Government will not allow universities to become political battlegrounds: Ramesh Pokhriyal

SRINAGAR: Union minister for human resources development Ramesh Pokhriyal, who was in Srinagar as part of government’s outreach programme in Jammu & Kashmir said that no university in the country would be allowed to be the centre of politics.
The minister said that the students cannot remain engaged in small things as their aim is to excel in academics and improve the international ranking of over 1,000 universities across the country.

Pokhriyal addressed a gathering of teachers at SK International Convention Center on the banks of Dal Lake and inaugurated two-day Orientation programme under National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement. “Universities are backbones of a society and centres of education. The universities should be in a mission mode to pursue excellence in fields of education. They should aspire for high international rankings. We can’t keep our students engaged in small things…That is why we will not allow universities to become centres of this type of politics,” Pokhriyal told reporters after the event.

The government, Pokhriyal said, strived to raise a new generation which will scale new heights and for that an academic environment is being created across the country.

“Our aim is that every child in J&K should get education under Right to Education, which is the only way forward for a family, a society and a country,” he said.

The HRD minister also said that he came with a gift of 45 important schemes worth hundreds of crores from the Narendra Modi government to augment the education infrastructure and capabilities of the students of J&K. He said the government is constructing 208 hostels for teachers at 26 places in J&K, besides providing funds for the upgrade of colleges, universities and National Institute of Technology.

Pokhriyal reiterated that Kashmir was the crown of India and it should always be shining. “Education is the way forward to shine this crown, which is the pride of whole country. Everybody should be proud about this shining crown,” he said.