President Pranab Mukherjee lights the ceremonial lamp at the College of Engineering Trivandrum as Chief Minister Oomen Chandy, state Governor Sheila Dixit and city MP Shashi Tharoor look on.

 By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday concluded his two-day visit to Kerala after offering prayers at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, where evaluation of gold, silver and precious stones is being conducted for the past three years.

The president, accompanied by Governor Sheila Dikshit, was received by district sessions judge K P Indira, who heads the panel that took over the administration of the temple on a Supreme Court order, and other officials at the western portal of the grand complex.

V S Sivakumar, the state’s minister for health and temple affairs, and Shashi Tharoor, the lawmaker representing the state capital, were also present.

This was the first high-profile visit to the temple after the apex court-appointed panel took over its administration from the erstwhile Travancore royal family that pledged their kingdom to its presiding deity and the ruled the country as the deity’s servant.

The president who arrived at Mangalore airport in Karnataka on Friday afternoon and attended the convocation ceremony of Central University of Kerala in the bordering Kasaragod town, inaugurated the platinum jubilee celebrations of the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) here late in the evening.

“We are pursuing a high growth strategy to make India a front-ranking nation. This requires significant contribution from the knowledge sectors,” he said at the CET. “Our engineering colleges have a key task to produce highly competent engineers and scientists who can become an asset for the profession and the country”.

Engineering accounts for one fourth of the total enrolment in higher education and the annual enrolment tripled during the last five-year period to 5.5mn.

India has announced more institutes in the coming years, including a clone of Indian Institute of Technology in Kerala.

“The acid test before our institutions is to produce a large cadre of scientific and technical manpower without sacrificing standards,” the president said.

“Many meritorious students opt for higher studies abroad. We have to retain them by offering world-class education... Superior quality institutions to meet the expectations of bright students are few”.

Not a single engineering institute or a university from India is ranked within the top two hundred universities in the world, he said, in stark contrast to the higher education sector prevalent in ancient times when seats of learning like Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramashila, Valabhi, Somapura and Odantapuri dominated the world for about 1,800 years beginning the 6th century BC.

“Formal linkage with the industry must be established to have regular flow of inputs from industry experts on course curricula and research. Engineering programmes must be periodically evaluated based on industry trends,” he suggested. “Alumni must be associated and their experience and expertise utilized for overall development.”

He noted that the alumni of CET, many of whom are eminent scientists, technocrats and bureaucrats, have a strong network. It must be leveraged for the benefit of this institute. Intellectual collaboration amongst Indian institutions and with institutions abroad can provide impetus to knowledge generation and sharing.

The CET has also started a Technology Business Incubation Centre and the Centre for Engineering Research and Development to promote research and to encourage innovation.