Inaugurating a workshop on 'Role of Universities in Public Policy-Making', hosted by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, University Grants Commission Vice-Chairman Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, on April 19, 2005, urged Vice-Chancellors and educationists to recreate linkages between universities and Government, research organizations, administrators and society, in order to render universities more relevant and help in enacting effective public policies.
Inaugurating a workshop on 'Role of Universities in Public Policy-Making', hosted by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, University Grants Commission Vice-Chairman Prof V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, on
April 19, 2005, urged Vice-Chancellors and educationists to recreate linkages between universities and Government, research organizations, administrators and society, in order to render universities more relevant and help in enacting effective public policies.
Prof Pillai said linkages between universities and society, research organizations and the Government has been severed by the erstwhile British colonialists, who did not want any debate on their policies.
The UGC Vice-Chairman lamented this tradition of the colonial past was unfortunately continuing. "We have to bring an end to this unique colonial past," he said.
Delivering the concluding address at the workshop, ORF Chairman RK Mishra said intellectual inertia was a major impediment in making India a world power. He called for engendering an information-driven, sophisticated knowledge culture in order to make India one of the most robust knowledge societies in the world. He underlined the pressing need to generate and nurture ideas and skills for evolving effective policy options. This could be done only if investment in higher education was high, but, unfortunately, "the passion for such investments in cultivating human capital has decreased", Mr RK Mishra pointed. He also observed: "the policy makers' perception of the role and contribution of the university system is not very flattering. Hence, funding in higher education is declining". Underlining the difference in the methodology of functioning of universities and think tanks, Mr RK Mishra proposed "think tank-university cooperation to enhance the role of universities in public policy formulation".
The former Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Ambassador Hamid Ansari, presently Distinguished Fellow, ORF, said "the factories of ideas should become the factories of workshop where ideas are put into test and practice." Regretting the gap between the universities and the real world, Ambassador Ansari said the need of the day was 'bridging the gap'.
Prof. Omprakash Mishra, Jadavpur University, Honorary Director of the workshop said the principal aim of the meeting was to find out ways to bridge the gap between universities, research and public policy making.
Recalling his days as a student, Prof Pillai said serious debate was held on various current issues, developments and policies. "But this trend is alarmingly declining. Now virtually no debate takes place in universities. We ourselves are to be blamed for this situation," he said.
Prof Pillai said the Union and State Governments also did not want debate on policies instituted by them. He said they did not want the universities to become part of the Indian investigative system.
Presently, Prof Pillai said, there was a mismatch between the "text and context (reality of society)".
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