Big things have put us in the crossroads of crisis and insecurity

From: Mahesh Mahadarshee mahadarshee@gmail.com Date: Dec 5, 2006 2:50 PM Subject: where i stand on Vedanta University To: Sachi Satapathy sachisatpathy@gmail.com

My fellow concerned Oriyas,
Of the issues confronting Orissa, the University proposed to be set up by Vedanta concerns me the most.That Mr Chief Minister has committed 10,000 acres area to Vedanta makes me wonder whether all eyes and ears of Mr CM are doing there job in the manner they do.One earlier posting has already highlighted the areal extent occupied by eminent educational institutions in the country. The University of Hyderabad, that occupies largest 2300 acres, has not utilized the whole occupied area after 30 years of its existence; still, it has emerged as one of the internationally recognized centre of learning and research. After all, I am more concerned about the way Govt. of Orissa formulates its human resource development policy and the policy of land utilization.
Even as the whole approach to development has shifted towards "SMALL AND SUSTAINABLE " projects, our Chief Minister has earned good name for conceiving of "BIG" projects. Big dams failed to control flood, and results in the diametrical opposite consequences;Big technology (high yielding varieties) turned "green revolution" into "brown", and recently big economic proects (SEZ) with another set of false promises. Besides, big educational enterprises have been recognized to harness the human resourses of the most youthful country in the world.

Every educated person knows how the Big things have put us in the crossroads of crisis and insecurity. Food Security, not to mention nutritional security, is again in crisis. The population of the country has been estimated at nearly1500 million by 2050.450 million tones food will be required to feed the mid-century population. Productivity has already reached plateu. Soil fertility is on the continuous decline. Genetic engineering has not yet cleared its bio-safety issues. In this context,the value of land is more important than anything else. As far as human resource development is concerned, the story will be very lengthy. The astute entrepreneurs have capitalized on the "bubble boom" economy that has bred hybrid employments overnight. There has been serious concern about the quality of the faculty as well as the students.

The McKinsey has surveyed that 75 % of technical graduates and 90 % of general graduates are unemployable in the country. Besides,if we talk about the capabilities required for leadership and innovation, India is in dire straits. The state-of-the-art infrastrucuter is not the hallmark of educational institutes. I personally know some people who are in debt trap after passing out from KIIT and other so called temples of higher learning.The institutes like KIIT has misled the career of many prospective students. The values sought to be achieved by our society have been shattered by corporate educational institutes.
Let this debate continue. I expect all concerned oriyas to put forward their opinion. Let's say an emphatic "NO" to Vedanta University. Suggest how to redesign the existing institutions funded and controlled by the Government.

Regards, Mahesh-- MAHESH MAHADARSHEE Research Scholar, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

-- Sachi Satapathy Coordinator, Orissa Politics Platform (For Details Log on to www.orissapolitics.cjb.net ) Editor, Orissa Vision 2020, Youth Vision 2020.Winner Infosys Young Achiever's Finalist Award-2005 (Social Work)Mobile-(0)9937630599