Give social touch to your future plans: Irani tells students

Stating that real education should contribute towards nation-building, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani today urged the students to give a social touch to their future financial plans and also learn to take failures in stride.
"The way people draft their plan, it reflects their character. I have been to so many institutions, where I found students saying that they are making efforts to get placed in MNCs. Students of management institutions aspire for financial services...But I am of the opinion that our financial plans should be complemented with societal plans," Irani, who was the chief guest at the fifth convocation ceremony of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur, said.

"True education must provide life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas. Real education is that which contributes to nation-building and enables one to stand on one's own legs. IIMs definitely contribute here by being job providers for their own students and many thousands of their countrymen," she said.
These students as IIM Graduates can touch the lives of thousands of others and help in imbibing in them the essence of the learning they had here, she added.
"Whenever we embark on a new journey in life, we know very little about what is going to follow. In such situations, don't allow any kind of fear to overpower you, just follow your heart.

"The nation is looking up to you for running and establishing organisations that will earn respect and admiration for their global standards. Failure is inevitable at some or the other part of life, but not taking a risk can be the biggest failure in life. If one learns to celebrate the learning that comes from both success and failure, then one will be more often successful in life," she added.

Appreciating Chhattisgarh government's management skill in Public Distribution System (PDS) and Power sector, she asserted that the IIM Raipur students should do case studies on how Chhattisgarh has been able to minimise its energy losses and revamp their PDS.

Chief Minister Raman Singh emphasised that management institutes have a lot to teach and one can learn and apply these learning for capacity-building and betterment of the society.
Stressing that the biggest stakeholder in education
sector is students, Irani said many times they are "stifled" by institutions that promise the world in propectuses and websites.
Irani also said the concerns with regard to UGC's regulations related to deemed universities will be addressed in the coming next month.
She said it had already been decided that colleges which consistently do well in NAAC ratings get autonomy so they don't have to run to the regulator for every new course they want to start.

On the New Education Policy (NEP), Irani said the committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian will present a draft which in conjunction with states will be discussed publicly. After assimilation of all points of view a national policy will be presented to the country.
On creating 20 world class institutions - ten in public and private sector, Irani said the guidelines for these bodies will see the light of the day in three months.
She also said a 'Bharatvani' portal, with education material in 22 languages, will be launched soon.
The head of committee that is preparing the draft of the new education policy, Subraminian, in his speech, said the report is under preparation and will be submitted soon.