CHANDIGARH, JUNE 4: The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, General Dr. S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM VSM (Retd.), while presiding over an impressive function about renaming of Punjab Engineering College (Deemed University) as PEC University of Technology Chandigarh posed a challenge to the technocrats and professionals.Ffor evolving innovative strategies and ensuring their applicability with efficacy and commitment to enable the 300 million people living below the poverty line to be instruments of change, to achieve the 9% growth rate set out by our planners for India. He emphasized the need of broadening our reach to the industrial community & corporate sector and harmonizing our endeavour with the rest of society, to give a new push to growth-oriented programmes.
Strongly advocating the need for a hard look and introspection of our existing policies and programmes to identify our strengths and weaknesses, General Rodrigues said that our approach should not be only academic but it must focus on current problems facing the Nation & the world and find ways & means to unlock the future through systematic and planned strategies. He regretted that our existing education system has failed to produce good citizens equipped with moral and ethical values and stressed that it needs to be reoriented and restructured to meet the global challenges, with a focused attention on inculcation of value system. He said that the process has already been started in Chandigarh Government Schools and the Vice Chancellors of various Universities in Punjab and Chandigarh has also been approached to launch programmes for creating good citizens in our Universities and Colleges. There is a huge positive response from all quarters to implement this novel concept, he added.
General Rodrigues further said that as part of our committed endeavour for creating jobs in Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Park, an Entrepreneur Development Center is being inaugurated shortly and the complex has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 17 crores. It has been equipped with state-of-art facilities for software research and development with focus on business plan vision for future. He said that this center will act as a useful forum for young IT Entrepreneurs besides benefitting the society at large. He asked the PEC University of Technology to coordinate their efforts for optimal utilization of the facilities created in this centre.
Impressing upon the PEC faculty to strengthen their ‘partnership’ and to develop ‘ownership’ in various development-oriented programmes in the Union Territory, General Rodrigues said that the Administration has called a conclave of NGOs on 10th of June, 2009 at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18 to discuss various issues of societal concern and to seek their cooperation in making society more concerned and committed, for meeting the aspirations of common people. He called upon the PEC authorities to suggest innovative programmes for solar power, energy conservation, cheap transport and other public utility projects which can be helpful in improving our service delivery systems in different fields of endeavour.
Complementing the PEC students who went to NASA to participate in the Moonbuggy race on which the presentation was also made at today’s function, General Rodrigues said that we should chalk out a long term roadmap with a farsighted vision for the bright future and take the PEC Technology University to the next level of IIT. He also presented certificates of excellence to these students who participated in this race.
Director, PEC University of Technology, Dr. Manoj Datta gave an account of the achievements made in the past years and the future roadmap for transforming PEC as a world class institution.
Mr. Chander Mohan, Chairman of Board of Governors, PEC University of Technology released a Souvenir on the occasion.