| The Hindu , Sunday, 24th December, 2006 |
| Technology, skills can take India places |
| `India Strategy' is being discussed everywhere, says speaker "It is the manufacturing sector that provides opportunities to other sectors" |
 GOOD WORK: M. Chidambaram, Director, NIT-T, conferring degree on a student during the second convocation in Tiruchi on Saturday. — Photo:M. Moorthy |
TIRUCHI: India can assume global leadership in a wide range of products and services if the concept of integrating manufacturing with software skills is promoted in educational institutions, N. Kumar, Vice-Chairman, Sanmar Groups, said on Saturday. |
| Addressing the second convocation of National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi (NIT-T), he said that it was imperative for educational institutions to channel the creativity of students towards manufacturing and help the industry retain talent. |
| "Only technology can keep the Indian industry ahead and only young and brilliant minds coming out of institutes such as NIT-T will be able to provide leadership. It is the manufacturing sector that provides opportunities to other sectors, including services to grow and put the country on the trajectory of double-digit growth rate." |
| Work in tandem |
| To nurture skills, the industry and educational institutions should work together even more closely and exploit the country's distinct advantage of higher youth population. The growth rate is accelerating at a pace never seen before. |
| Young professionals must become agents of change and ensure inclusive growth for bridging social and economic inequalities, Mr. Kumar said. |
| The Chairman of the NIT-T Board of Governors, R. Seshasayee, said that knowledge being the key to generation of innovative ideas and their translation into enterprise and value addition for the country's progress, the country must foster the knowledge revolution by investing massively in education for the next 10 to 15 years. |
| Well-positioned |
| India is well positioned to script its own future as a knowledge economy and the world is celebrating its potential after achievement of a growth rate of 8 percent for 33 consecutive months. |
| There is no multi-national company in the world where `India Strategy' is not discussed. |
| The country is poised to be the supplier of human resource for the 70-80 million jobs that would arise over the next decade in the developed countries, most of which are afflicted with the problem of ageing population, Mr. Seshasayee said. |
| Presenting his report the NIT-T Director, M. Chidambaram, said that the departments will be developed as autonomous and flexible centres of excellence to meet the sweeping changes of the industrial environment in post liberalised India and also the rapidly changing scene of technical education globally. |
| Of a total of 938 candidates, 461 received their degrees person and the rest in absentia. |
