Farmers, by nature, are the most persevering of people, since they continue to start afresh with every cultivation season even if they faced losses in previous seasons, said Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance, on Saturday. “That is why when a farmer commits suicide, it hurts us more,” she added.
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Releasing a biography of former Anna University Vice-Chancellor (V-C) E. Balagurusamy, in Tamil, titled ‘Nermayin Payanam’, she said that his perseverance in not compromising on honesty could be attributed to his hailing from an agricultural family.
Ms. Sitharaman said that a person being committed to come up in life only through honesty and hard work despite all difficulties was no mean feat. Lauding Mr. Balagurusamy for leading such an exemplary life, she said that the initiatives taken during his tenure as V-C contributed to Anna University achieving the Institute of Eminence status.
P. Sathasivam, former Chief Justice of India, and former Governor of Kerala, said that he was witness to a number of legal battles Mr. Balagurusamy had to face as the V-C of Anna University, when he was serving as a judge in Madras High Court.
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Praising Mr. Balagurusamy for his high standards of governance, M.K. Surappa, V-C, Anna University, said that the lack of such governance is a major reason for the inability of higher education institutions in India to get ranked among the top 100 institutions in the world. He also appealed to the Finance Minister for ensuring better funding for State-run universities such as Anna University, since they are contributing on a par, if not more than, the Indian Institute of Technologies, towards inclusiveness and quality in higher education and research.
S.P. Thyagarajan, former V-C, University of Madras, and V. Murugesan, V-C, Annamalai University, recollected their memories of working with Mr. Balagurusamy.
The book’s author Pa. Krishnan said that there were plans to release it soon in English and other Indian languages.