Universities should hone skills of youth, says Pranab

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the universities should play a major role in skill development and capacity building of youths, who constitute a key component of human resources.

Mukherjee was addressing the convocation of the Central University of Orissa (CUO), Koraput at Bhanja Mandap in the premises of Sunabeda unit of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), near Koraput. Orissa governor MC Bhandare and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also addressed the convocation.

Mukherjee also launched the School of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources of the university in collaboration with the Swaminathan Foundation. Praising the initiative taken by the CUO, Koraput to launch the School of Biodiversity in collaboration with a reputed research institution, the finance minister stressed that the universities should take such initiatives for research work with the help of private institutes. “It will benefit the people”.

Stating that as many as 672 million people in the age group between 15 and 59 are usually treated as working population, Mukherjee said, they should come forward with a strong determination for the development of the country.“Not only education, the students should have strong determination to succeed in life,” he added.

Praising the achievements of the CUO in a short span of two years, the finance minister said, “In comparison to other Central Universities which were launched at the same time, the CUO, Koraput is far ahead both in academic activities and infrastructure facilities”. The university was launched in Koraput in 2009.

“The institute will go a long-way in strengthening the academic activities in the state, particularly in the (Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi) KBK region where facilities for higher education are not very encouraging.” he said.

Stating that Orissa was emerging as a education hub in the country, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said institutes like IIT, IIIT, NISER have come up in the state. The state has achieved a growth rate of 9 per cent. In order to maintain it, we need skilled manpower, Patnaik said. At least, six students of the university were given gold medals for being the toppers in their respective post graduate programmes for the session.