Prof. S. Gopakular, Group Director, SCMS Group,

Prof. Baiju Radhakrishnan, Group Director, SCMS Group,

Dr. Radha Thevannoor, Registrar and Group Director, SCMS Group,

Dr. Indu Nair, Group Director, SCMS Group,

Dear Teachers,

Beloved Students,

Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,

Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram.

I deem it a privilege to inaugurate the Annual Lecture Series instituted in memory of Dr. Pradeep P. Thevannoor, who was instrumental in setting up several institutions of the SCMS Group of Institutions.

Let me at the outset, pay my respects to the memory of Dr. Pradeep Thevannoor who served as Vice Chairman of the SCMS Group, inspiring his colleagues through words and deeds that always evinced his strong urge to take the institution to greater heights. His sad and untimely demise in a car accident was a sudden set back to the growth of the institutions he had helped to develop. But, his vision, imagination and untiring energy continue to inspire his team to take forward his dreams of institution building.

I am informed that the SCMS Group, established in 1976 has under it, institutions which impart training in Management, Engineering, Biotechnology, Architecture, Information Technology Journalism, Public Relations and Consultancy etc.  True to the dreams of Dr Pradeep Thevannoor, these institutions have been on the path of growth in the recent years.

As we recall the services of a visionary who left this world quite young, it is befitting that the topic chosen for the inaugural Lecture pertains to the Role of the Youth in building the future.  The topic is very relevant, since today, we live in one of the 'youngest' nations in the world. India, which is one of the earliest civilizations, is also one of the youngest nations, with more than 54% of the population below 25 years of age.  And, more than 64% of the people are in the working age group, that is, between 15 and 59 years of age.

Some of us may wonder why this is important. Through this large population of youth, what India is going to achieve is a Demographic Dividend, where most of the lucrative jobs in the emerging sectors could be cornered by youth from India. My question is : Are we ready for it?

We may not be fully ready, even though we are preparing for it.  I am certain that our preparations could get better steam if we sat back to see whether we have realized the true potential of our youth.

Our former President, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan once described the spirit of youth as a flexibility of mind, spirit of adventure and the eagerness to improve on the past.  Swamy Vivekananda believed that, with a few young men and women who were pure and selfless, he could shake the world. The great Statesmen who framed our Constitution and gave us the duty of creating a caste-less and classless society, would have certainly expected the involvement of our youth in such a noble effort. Undoubtedly, such a social transformation can become a reality only if national resources, development and opportunities for growth reach every citizen, especially the youth, regardless of gender, religion or caste.

The youth comprise the most vibrant section of our society. But, often, it is our habit to associate with our youth, negative qualities like immaturity, lack of responsibility, some level of delinquency etc. At the same time, in our speeches, we call the youth, the leaders of tomorrow and the architects of our future, who would carve a culture of prosperity and development. While we expect from the youth, the responsibility of being at the fore-front of our Nation Building activities, we have to ask ourselves, whether we have done enough to help them realize their potential.

You may recall that in 2015 there was a major survey among Engineering graduates, which revealed that 80 per cent of the techno-graduates included in the survey were not employable. Ever since such revelations shook us out of our slumber, our Hon’ble Prime Minister's ambitious 'Skill India' Mission, which had set a target of imparting skills to over forty crore young people by the year 2022, started becoming a top priority in our educational institutions.  I am glad that Kerala is focusing closely on upgrading the functional and technical skills of our young students and work-force, both in quality and quantity.  

However, to make our youth properly skilled, we need to urgently fine-tune our syllabi to accommodate employability skills. We have not achieved great success in this matter so far, but many of our colleges are offering Add-on courses to enhance the skills of our students. Anyway, I am glad that Kerala had managed to enter the top 25 percentile of the most employable States in as early as 2016 itself.

Like many other democracies, our nation is also facing many issues including insurgency and unrest in some areas. It is quite sad to see the spirit of adventure and energy of young people being exploited by those who incite violence and unrest in society. As a nation, we have a responsibility to save our youth from being misdirected by people and organizations with vested interests. Since understanding is key to the creation of awareness and a spirit of nation building, we have to ensure the most socially meaningful interactions for the youth. 

Personally, I believe that better education and involvementin social activities can trigger positive thinking and hope among our youth. Today's education has to look beyond the standard syllabus and text books and concentrate on Technical or Hard Skills, Soft Skills or Life Skills and a professional approach to work, coupled with the ability to handle stress. I am reminded of an old proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you empower him to feed himself and others for a lifetime. Thus, skill based education can change the philosophy of life of an individual, and nurture in him or her, a sense of belonging.

I would urge all institutions under the SCMS Group to include education on the Fundamental duties of citizens, as envisaged in the Directive Principles of our Constitution. Those duties are also a pointer to the social issues that require the positive involvement of our youth.

I am certain that, with such knowledge of their duties as citizens, our youth can usher in many positive changes in society. Already, during the recent floods, we had seen how our youth had involved in the relief operations by using the social networking possibilities. That gesture from our youth, which showed their commitment and problem-solving skills, was adequate proof that our future could be safe in the hands of the younger generation.

I am sure that the institution building and bio-research activities of Dr. Pradeep P. Thevannoor, were also guided by such ideals. I sincerely hope that the students of SCMS Group Institutions would follow those ideals in their lives. Let us remember that each of our actions is our contribution to the strength of our nation.

I compliment the organizers for conducting this function in a befitting manner and wish the students, parents, staff and teachers all the best.

Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal

Nanni

Jai Hind

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