Says fund allocation is inadequate
MARGAO, AUG 21
Goa Law Commission Chairman Ramakhant Khalap has said there is still time to do something to raise the standard of Goa University to every higher level of possibilities in terms of education, facilities and access to students.
“We cannot create islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty. We cannot provide centre of excellence in a pool of ignorance”, Khalap said, while delivering the keynote address on “Vision of Goa University for the next 25 years” on the occasion of the Founder’s Day celebration of Vidya Vikas Mandal on Saturday.
Asserting that the fund allocation by Goa government to Goa University can barely meet the requirements, Khalap said there was an opportunity when the central government offered to pump in funds to the tune of Rs 300-400 crore. “But, we said that we don’t want. The reasons could be genuine, but reservations expressed by people could have been resolved or addressed”, he said.
“If the central government had put certain condition in lieu of giving the funds, we could have posed counter conditions by saying that we want the money and facilities, but we also want the controlling powers that we can meet the requirements of the locals’, he added.
Saying that if knowledge is power and power leads to prosperity, he underlined the need to create not just centers of knowledge, but centers of excellent knowledge.
“What Knowledge Commission has said about the concept of knowledge will have to be considered by the Executive Committee of the Goa University as well as by every Goan”, he added.
He said Goa has the potential and the grit and determination to raise a holistic educational and intellectual edifice in the state if extra resources are made available in this respect.
Saying that University is a state of mind, Khalap called for having institutions which should kindle the thinking and reasoning capacity of the people. “There is a formidable task before us to convert our institutions into a body of reason itself”, he added.
In his address, Goa University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dileep Deobagkar the University has so far done well and said the time has come to take advantage of the past and plan ahead.
Calling for a change in the mindset, he said there ought not be boundary walls in the educational institutions.
“There can be access to education by different tools. The Act has define the jurisdiction of University. On the other hand, you ask me to reach the world”, he added.
“If you look at the constraints and guidelines, it has become difficult to follow. You tie the hands and ask to do good with others. These new institutions are progressing and the time has come to go back and look at the rules and regulations of the University”, he said.
Chief Secretary Sanjay K Srivastava and Vidya Vikas Mandal President Ramnath Kare also spoke.
