Rashtrapati Bhavan hosted a one-day meet of Directors of IISc- Bangalore, IITs,IISERs

New Delhi: Addressing the Directors of IISc, IITs and IISERs in the concluding session of the meet, President Kovind said that education, especially higher education, is a subject he was personally passionate about. This led him to ask for this meeting to be convened – to understand, discuss and, where possible, to find quick solutions to the problems faced by these institutes.

The President said that these institutes of national importance have an important responsibility on ensuring that the research and developments in the field of science and technology are linked to the needs of our country and its people. At the heart of a scientific endeavour is often a problem that the scientist wants to solve. It is important that challenges that confront our nation and our society become the prime instigator of their quest for Knowledge, Discovery and Innovation.

The President said that the participation of women in science must be encouraged in every way possible. It is essential to promote the participation of girl students and of women in science and technology. If this disparity is not addressed, our scientific achievements will always be less than perfect and less than desirable.

Remembering the stalwarts of scientific research in India such as Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Satish Dhawan, the President said that what made them different from the rest was their ability to develop institutions as well as to groom the next generation of scientific administrators and leaders. He called upon the Directors of IISc, IITs and IISERs to discharge their key role as leadership mentors for the next generation of scientists. He stated that this would ensure that we have a ready talent pool of scientist-administrators who can conceive, establish and administer our scientific institutes.