In a book release on Monday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pranab Mukherjee advocated that Indian higher education should be raising “argumentative, pragmatic Indians”and not producing “intolerant, dogmatic citizens”. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen joined the President for the event, who emphasized on the importance of autonomy in higher education, and voted that universities cannot be run like “government departments”.
During the book release, Mukherjee was presented with the first copy of the book The Future of Indian Universities: Comparative and International Perspectives, published by Oxford University Press.
Mukherjee, at the event, brought in the reflection that it was India’s ancient history and said it had a “dominant role in higher learning” which had eroded over the years and this erosion has a lot to do with the flaws of the current education system of the country.
The President, in his long academic and political career, has been honoured very often, not only in India, but abroad as well. He was even recognized as the Best Finance Minister in the World in the year 1984 by the Euromoney magazine and Finance Minister of the Year in the year 2010 by The Banker.
Padma Vibhushan Pranab Mukherjee is a very educated man and has holds Masters in Politics and LL.B. degree from the University of Calcutta. He has also written many inspiring books like The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years and The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996 and has been advocating for the upliftment of quality of education in the country.
Recently, the President had launched the free online education platform SWAYAM, along with its television replacement, SWAYAM Prabha, which are expected to aid the hands of education reach all corners in the country.
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