BENGALURU: Days after the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi was rocked by violence, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said educational campuses must not become safe havens for politics of hate and violence to thrive. He was speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.
“There is no doubt that there is space for every shade of opinion and every point of view in our universities. When our children pass out of educational institutions, they must be enlightened citizens who will take an abiding interest in protecting our democracy and preserving the fundamental values of our constitution,” Naidu said.
Stressing the need for focus on research and development, the Vice President said that at present, India was spending less than 1 per cent of its GDP on R&D. He said, “There are over a 1 lakh India-born PhDs in universities around the world. We must attract at least some of this talent back home through better opportunities and incentives so that they may help fast-track the progress of our R&D sector,” he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Vajubhai Vala said universities must take NAAC assessments seriously and those universities which do not score well should be asked to close as there won’t be a point in running the institution without giving quality education.
The VP also visited the mechanised kitchen facility at ‘Adamya Chetana’, that serves food to school children. It was founded by late Union Minister Ananth Kumar and his wife Tejaswini.