The Hindu Business Line : Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power; SRM University

Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power, delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the Business Line Club for the academic year 2008-09 at the SRM University in Kattankulathur near Chennai on Thursday. Seated (from left) are Mr N. Sethuraman, Registrar, SRM University; Mr P. Sathyanarayanan, Vice-Chancellor; Mr T.R. Pachamuthu, Chancellor; Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu; and Mr S.A. Bhat, Chairman & Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank. —

Our Bureau

Chennai, Sept. 18 The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Power, Mr Jairam Ramesh, on Thursday called for more public funding in education. He said that a ‘public-funded, private-run’ model would be the most appropriate for India.

Inaugurating the Business Line Club in the SRM School of Management, SRM University, Mr Ramesh noted that the bureaucracy-led public-funded education schools were “destined to death”, while the private-funded educational institutions kept the poor out.

The alternative, according to the Minister, is a model where the educational institutions are built with public funds but are run by the private sector.

He observed that over 60 per cent of the primary schools in Kerala followed just this model, a fact noted by the Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen in his works. “We need to replicate this model,” Mr Ramesh said, adding that he was not a “great believer in privatisation of higher education”.

The Minister pointed out that in India, only 8 per cent of the population in the college-going age group, actually go to colleges — a figure pathetically low for a country that aspires to be a frontline nation in the world.

He also noted that institutions of higher education were not evenly spread across the country. Nearly 70 per cent of engineering and medical colleges in the country are in the four States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Praising institutions like SRM and the Vellore Institute of Technology for their service to the country, Mr Ramesh said that premier institutes like the IITs hog the headlines but actually do more good for the US economy than for India. Mr Ramesh — himself an IITian — stressed that there was a need to create more institutions like the SRM University.

Inaugurating BL Club

Inaugurating the Business Line Club, Mr Ramesh, told the gathering of students that Business Line was among the few newspapers in the country that went beyond the “Sensex and IT”. The Indian economy is much beyond the Sensex and IT, comprising a huge agricultural and manufacturing economy.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, also showered praise on the SRM University, drawing attention to the fact that the University was attracting even students from abroad.

He said that for an educational institution to become successful, a number of factors have to come together. He mentioned seven of them: appropriate academic curricula and a conducive learning environment, ability to attract and retain good faculty, proper systems such as an entrance examination for admission of students, good infrastructure, ability to place students, linkages with other education institutions and the industry and a vision which allows a balance between excellence and affordability.

Mr Ram observed that SRM had all of these factors. He noted that “instead of cutting corners”, the founders of SRM had invested wisely in creating an excellent infrastructure.

Role of IOB

The Business Line Club programme for the academic year ’08-09 has been sponsored by the Indian Overseas Bank. Thanking the bank, Mr Ram said that the banking system played a crucial role in education. He noted that about one million students in India — or one student in every eight — received funding support from banks.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman and Managing Director of IOB, Mr S. A. Bhat, noted that almost 100 per cent of the education loans to students have been given by the public sector banks. Mr Bhat said that the Indian Overseas Bank was keen to associate itself with activities such as the ‘Business Line Club’ because the bank was keen to promote itself among the youth and to let them know that it is as technology-savvy as the new private sector banks.

The Chancellor of the SRM University, Mr T.R. Pachamuthu, called upon the students to keep themselves aware of the happenings in the world and recommended newspaper reading as a means to doing that.

Laced with humour and wit

An articulate Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh’s talk was laced with witticisms and humour while outlining the big picture on education policy. Like when he started his talk by saying he was to come to SRM University a few months ago to present a few awards but could not make it. “But, after the honorary doctorate to Abhinav Bindra, my desire to come here was all the more!” said Mr Ramesh, tongue firmly in cheek.

Later, he “challenged” Mr T.R. Pachamuthu, the Chancellor of the University, to take on the management of a moribund publicly funded institution and transform it through his expertise gained in running the SRM group of institutions. “I will then consider you the Sai Baba of education,” said Mr Ramesh. The audience of over 3,500 SRM University students in the cavernous auditorium, among the country’s largest, roared in approval.

‘A valued customer’

Referring to the role played by the nationalised banks in development, Mr Ramesh, with a broad grin, turned to the Chairman and Managing Director of the Indian Overseas Bank, Mr S.A. Bhat, and said, “I’ve been a customer of your bank for the past 25 years and a very valued customer!”

The point he was making was that in the current fascination for the private sector, “don’t forget the immense contribution made by nationalised banks. The growth of the self-help groups movement in Tamil Nadu and Andhra was because of the support of the banks,” explained Mr Ramesh.

Wink-talk

Ending his talk, Mr Ramesh exhorted the students to read more and referred to Business Line as the newspaper which showed that there was more to India than IT and the Sensex. He turned to the Business Line marketing department executives present there and with a wink, asked if he had done his bit to market the paper!