TIRUCHY: Since 2014 doubling of developments has happened in the sectors including airports, cargo handling capacity of all major ports, and scale of construction of highways in the nation, said Prime Minister Modi in his address to students at the 38th convocation ceremony of Bharathidasan University in Tiruchy on Tuesday.
PM Modi pointed to the number of startups growing to almost 1 lakh from less than 100 in 2014.
He also spoke about India achieving a number of trade deals with important economies thereby opening up new markets for India’s goods and services, while creating countless opportunities for the youth.
The PM said that India is being welcomed as a part of every global solution as he mentioned strengthening institutions like G20, fighting climate change and playing a bigger role in the global supply chain.
The Prime Minister said that the creation of a university is usually a legislative process and gradually new colleges are affiliated and the university grows, however, Bharathidasan University was created differently as many existing illustrious colleges were brought together to create the University and provide a strong and mature foundation making the university impactful in many domains.
“Our nation and its civilization have always been centred around knowledge”, the Prime Minister said as he threw light on the ancient universities of Nalanda and Takshila. He also mentioned Kanchipuram, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Madurai being home to great universities which were frequented by pupils from across the globe.
Speaking about the concept of convocation being ancient, the Prime Minister gave the example of Tamil Sangamam where poets and intellectuals presented poetry and literature for analysis which led to the recognition of the works by a larger society. This logic, the Prime Minister said, is used in academia and higher education even today. “Young students are part of a great historical tradition of knowledge”, he added.
In his address, Chief Minister MK Stalin said, "Tamil Nadu ranks at the top when it comes to the Higher Education sector. Those seeds were sown during the Justice party period and have made our state the best. In our Dravidian model, our education movement is for all. Many schemes including Nan Mudhalvan, CM Fellowship and CM Research Grant Scheme are hugely benefiting those in higher education."
Stalin also stressed that in Ph.D. enrollment Tamil Nadu stays at the top. In this regard, he said amongst the best arts colleges in the country 35 out of 100 are in the state. Amongst the top 100 universities, 22 are in the state.
Governor of Tamil Nadu and Chancellor of the university RN Ravi, Pro-Chancellor and Minister for Higher Education RS Rajakannappan, and Vice Chancellor Dr M Selvam were present on the occasion.