President Pratibha Patil today made a strong pitch for putting an end to the "disgraceful" practice of ragging in the country and said this should have no place in centres of learning and intellectual pursuits.
The president chose the annual convocation of the Manipal University in Manipal to make an earnest appeal to students and educational institutions alike to stop students from facing harassment on educational campuses.
"Practices like ragging and harassing should find no place in educational institutions. I earnestly request institutions and students to stop forthwith ragging which is one of the most disgraceful practices," she told a gathering of students and academicians.
She also rued the decline of research capacity in the country, and underlined that encouraging innovation potential of today's students was the key to make sure that technological advances do not hit roadblocks in the long run.
Noting that prosperous nations are predicated on educated and well-informed populations, the President said for India to milk to the maximum extent its unique demographic advantage, it will have to tap the innovation potential of its students.
"A sound base of research in India had led to the green and white revolutions which brought far-reaching changes," she said while asking scientists and researchers to look at bringing in new revolutions for enhancing productivity on a sustainable basis.
"Unfortunately, there has been a decline in our research capacity," she said and asked educational institutions to rise to the need to bridge the deficit.
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