Pvt sector must propel Olympic double digit medal target: Venkaiah

Thiruchirapalli

We should lose no time in trying to achieve it with all stakeholders, including the private sector, to come together to build an all-encompassing support system for our young and aspiring athletes, said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday.

Inaugurating the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Tiruchy through virtual mode, the Vice President, who lauded that the SRM group spearhead a definitive change in quality education, said, the quest to create a new resurgent and aspirational India leans heavily on imparting quality education and the New Education Policy is a game-changer in this respect. It envisions broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic higher education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects and integration of vocational education—in short, the document encapsulates in it, a quest for excellence in teaching and learning, he said.

Referring to the stellar performance of India’s sportspersons at Tokyo Olympics, the Vice President lauded the achievements of the Paralympians who brought home a record number of 19 medals propelling India into the top 25 at the Para Games.

“This is a historic moment in India’s sporting journey and their exemplary performance has not only changed people’s perception towards disability but has also kindled hopes of India emerging as a major sporting power. Let us set a target for ourselves to double the medal count in Paris Olympics in 2024 and lose no time in trying to achieve it,” said Venkaiah Naidu and urged the private sector institutes like SRM to take lead to come together to build an all-encompassing support system for our young and aspiring athletes.

Stating that the country produces around 1.5 million engineers, but a survey suggests that only seven per cent of them are suitable for core engineering jobs, the Vice President said, it is time to increase employability by focusing on the skills required for the Industry. “The emphasis must be on building a stronger academia-industry connection and ensuring that creative research results in the application of ground-breaking solutions,” he said.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit, during the inauguration said that Tamil Nadu is one of the most literate and educated states in India and has a glorious history for global education for which the SRM institutions have been playing a major role.

Dr TR Paarivendhar, MP and Founder Chancellor of SRM group of institutions, Dr R Shivakumar, Chairman, SRM Group of Institutions Ramapuram and Tiruchy campuses, S Niranjan, President, SRM Institute of Science and Technology and others were present.