A new Asia has emerged on the global scene in the 21st century, with the Asian countries having been described as “economic tigers in the new world order”. Today, India is among the world’s five biggest countries in terms of area, geographical territory, population and market share and economy in terms of purchasing power. Moreover, India is amongst the fastest growing economies of the world.
The world economy is evolving to the point where knowledge is becoming increasingly important and will be a major driver of future economic growth. The productivity of knowledge is going to be the determining factor and the most critical resource for sustaining the same level of economic growth.
In the past, the USA viewed Japan as number one threat. Today, the USA and Japan account for more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP and 50 per cent of world’s Research and Development expenditures. Moreover, these countries file nearly 60 per cent of the world’s patents annually. Both these countries understand that innovation in the 21st century is all about being open and collaborative as their companies team up with universities and research institutes at home and across borders.
India has a unique opportunity to be a major global player in knowledge-based services and knowledge-based manufacturing. India is well positioned to capitalise on the worldwide potential in the knowledge economy with massive human resources, a large population of young people and strong foundation in tertiary education.
For this, it is imperative to improve the skills and quality of workforce by providing quality higher education. If our youth has to acquire and enjoy a unique competitive position in the global market, we should not cripple our universities with resource crunch. Today, most of the country’s universities, with already depleted financial resources, have expanded in administration rather than creation of academic resources.
India, in order to be a knowledge economy, cannot afford to neglect its universities, which are the nurseries of generating and creating new knowledge. Thus, if higher education and research infrastructure — built over the years by these universities — collapses for lack of funds, our industry will suffer as well.
We do need better roads, larger airports and more efficient seaports, but we also need financially healthy universities that can carry out quality research and produce skilled manpower. Our universities need to support the pace of economic reforms with matching education reforms and progress in Research and Development.
Ideally, the universities should see the changes in the country and respond to them by setting up new departments, recruiting the best talent and undertaking new activities. However, paucity of resources and other such factors pose hindrances in the process. Lately, the Union Government has realised the need to establish world-class universities and central universities in different parts of the country. These should be dynamic institutions that are at the forefront of learning and research, like some of the leading universities in the West. Moreover, these universities are expected to serve as think-tanks in public administration and policy-making.
Punjab has been allocated a world-class university at Amritsar and a central university. These institutes of excellence will become knowledge hotspots and play a vital role in the academic development of this region.
It is high time that Panjab University be granted a status of central university. This would help in getting additional funds from the Centre, which can be utilised to improve the existing infrastructure to be on a par with the best in the world, besides attracting good faculty.
Panjab University, one of the prestigious universities of the country, has produced leaders in all walks of life. It has the potential to act as an incubator of innovations and ideas by maintaining symbiotic relationship with the industry and undertake applied research for the benefit of the residents of this region.
The need of the hour is that the leaders rise above the parochial considerations and keep merit and larger interest of people in mind while considering the proposals for grant of central university status to any given institution.
The political leadership has to realise that there is no better legacy and hope we can leave to our children than the possibility of a good education. Education is a great equalizer in life. Therefore, it is essential that we, as a state, focus on knowledge to ensure a bright future for India in this era of stiff international competition.
