Dr. P. K. Dharmarajan, Vice-Chancellor,

Dr. K.S. Ravikumar, Pro Vice-Chancellor,

Dr. T.P Raveendran, Registrar

Shri Innocent, Member of Parliament

Shri Roji John, Member of Legilative Assembly,

Prof. K. Job, Syndicate Member

Advocate Thulasi, President Kalady Grama Panchayat

Dr Aryambika, Representative, PhD Holders

Respected Teachers, My beloved students,

PhD Awardees,

Friends in Media

Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,

Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,

It gives me great joy to inaugurate this meeting which has been called to honour the 134 scholars of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, who received the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy during the last five years.

Let me at the outset, congratulate the Vice-Chancellor and Syndicate of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit for organizing this function which conveys to its students, the University's appreciation for the dedication they had shown in their research work. This is a laudable gesture on the part of the University during its Silver Jubilee Year.

As we all know, the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, which has been established to impart knowledge in various branches of Sanskrit as well as Indology, Indian Culture, Indian Languages, Philosophy, Fine Arts, etc., has been actively widening its academic reach through the promotion of other languages in India and abroad that have contributed to the study of Sanskrit. The University celebrates the memory of Sree Sankaracharya, the great son of Kerala who propounded the Advaita Philosophy. His eternal fame rests on his reinterpretation of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita to make them more accessible to the cultivated minds of the country. His views underline the concept of pluralism and secular democracy – two values which this University should strive to translate into action.

Coming to today’s function, I had an occasion to glance through the list of topics on which scholars have been awarded PhD under ten different Faculties. I must confess that the wide variety of topics is impressive, since they include Sanskrit Grammar and Literature, Cinema Studies, Environment, Semiotic Studies, Correlates of Happiness, Quality of life of Epileptics, Cost effective housing and so on. It is this universal nature of scholastic inquiry that qualifies an institution to be called a University. Many of these research topics are reminiscent of India's rich tradition of knowledge which dates back to several centuries. But, as scholars examine that tradition through the microscopic eyes of modern research, more and more areas of academic inquiry unravel before them.

The students of Sanskrit and Indology should be proud of this heritage of knowledge. Nalanda, our first University which had over 2,000 teachers and 10,000 students, had regular academic visitors from China, Japan, Korea, Persia etc. Incidentally, I must mention that today, our modern varsities are struggling to have at least one thousand teachers and some foreign students. Nalanda was 600 years old when the first University of Europe was established in the year 1088 in Bologna, Italy. The decline of Nalanda was symbolic of the decline of Asia and the rise of western Colonialism. But, this decline remains a lesson relevant even now as a strong message to the academic community that it is their responsibility to maintain and strengthen Universities through the creation and dissemination of new knowledge. And, meaningful research is the key to this activity.

Since I see before me a galaxy of eminent academics and doyens of higher education, I would like to share some random thoughts on education and research. The success of a University depends on how well it equips its graduates and researchers to respond to the needs of the society it caters to. A university should not wait for issues to arise; instead, it should identify and bring to the notice of society, the areas that need attention. But, now-a-days, this proactive role of the varsities is very rarely seen. I often wonder why people do not turn to our Universities in times of disasters, epidemics etc. Is it because society has not yet begun to trust our institutions as being capable of providing solutions to social issues? Or is it because our Universities prefer to keep society away?

Both these situations deserve to be changed, since institutions of higher education, especially the research departments owe a responsibility to society. Since our research and studies make use of the resources provided by the larger society, we must give something in return for what we get. It will be unfair to think of one's PhD as a personal achievement; instead, a research degree should be seen as one's contribution to the society and to the global wealth of knowledge. Such a vision will enable us to translate our research findings into deliverable technologies and solutions or logical interpretations to social issues.

The communication of research information to the people is of great importance. In spite of our best efforts, most of the Universities in our State have not succeeded in publishing research journals with a desirable impact factor. Along with such journals, we also must make use of the mass media to inform society about our research activities and findings.

I would also request the University to make sure that research publications of all size are free from the curse of plagiarism. There is also a feeling among the academic communities that research in languages and humanities does not fetch the same level of effect as in science and technology. It is true that scientific and technological research is more likely to lead to innovation, but we should also realize that this achievement is not totally impossible in humanities.

Knowledge sharing among Universities also deserves our special attention in the context of our urban and rural areas being equipped with well developed communication infrastructure. Our educational institutions should utilize such facilities and think of networking for knowledge driven activities in research and development. We also need to concentrate on the nurturing of the twenty-first-century skills, like critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, digital literacy etc., in our students as we build a true knowledge society.

We cannot ignore the student unrest that comes up in many of our institutions. Campus administrators have to be sensitive to the needs of students, especially in terms of the facilities to be provided to them. We also need regular skill development programmes to improve the employability of our graduates. But, most importantly, the atmosphere in the campus must also be conducive to the free, tolerant and fearless expression of ideas. While maintaining academic freedom and intellectual integrity, Universities must also open avenues for independent and critical thinking. The task before every academician is to nurture the genius in each disciple so that students would consider the years spent in the campus as the most fruitful period in their lives.

I once again greet all the PhD awardees who have been honored today and hope that they would scale better heights in future.

I compliment the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit for conducting this function in a befitting manner.

Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal

Nanni

Jai Hind