The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Build world class education system”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 29, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Build world class education system”

Special Correspondent

Great Lakes Institute of Management’s new campus opened

— Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

HIGH-CLASS FACILITIES: GLIM founder Bala V.Balachandran (centre), at the inauguration of its new campus in Chennai on Tuesday. (From right) former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor; Indian Bank CMD M.S.Sundara Rajan; Godrej Consumer Products CMD Adi Godrej; Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing CMD Jamshyd Godrej and Bauer College of Business dean Arthur D.Warga, are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Building a world-class education system and optimising the country’s human resources are key to India achieving its potential on the global stage, according to business leaders present at the inauguration of the Great Lakes Institute of Management’s new campus here on Tuesday.

“A lot of people feel that the big bottleneck is [lack of] infrastructure… To my mind, the real bottleneck, the real hurdle that we have to overcome is [lack of] education,” said Adi Godrej, chairman and managing director of Godrej Consumer Products.

“A lack of leadership across the board is the bane keeping India from reaching the heights,” said Madhur Bajaj, vice-chairman of Bajaj Auto.

“Our country has genuine problems with both the hardware and software of development,” said Shashi Tharoor, former under-secretary general of the United Nations, who delivered the GLIM convocation address earlier in the day. He defined the ‘hardware’ as the roads, ports, airports and sanitation systems that “need colossal amounts of work.” However, he felt that the ‘software’ or human capital needed even more work. It was not just a matter of education, he said. If the country could not ensure food, shelter and basic healthcare for all, there was no point in just filling people’s brains, he pointed out.

He encouraged GLIM graduates to stay in India to provide much-needed vision and leadership. “Twenty years ago, I said that the only place in the world where Indians haven’t succeeded is India,” he said. “I think the time has come for Indians to succeed in India.” Chief secretary K.S. Sripathi went a step further and urged graduates to stay on in Tamil Nadu, saying that the State would see a higher growth rate in 2009-10.

Green campus

The residential campus has been designed with eco-friendly principles in mind and is among the first in India to receive a Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating, a global standard for green buildings. The campus is 100 per cent day-lit and will recycle all its waste and water. “It is a dream fulfilled,” said GLIM founder Bala V. Balachandran. “We wanted to give our students not only the greatest of faculties but also the right environment to help them realise their potential.”

Corrections and Clarifications

The caption of the accompanying photograph in a report "Stress on world class education system" (Tamil Nadu, April 29, 2009) identified the person second from right as Indian Bank CMD M.S. Sundara Rajan. It should have been the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, K.S. Sripathi.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu