University of Hyderabad (UoH) in association with the Office of Dean, Students’ Welfare and the National Service Scheme (NSS) organized a lecture by Prof. SC Lakhoti, a Distinguished Professor at Banaras Hindu University on the occasion of National Science Day titled “Role of Universities in Nation Building”.
Prof. SC Lakhoti
Prof. Lakhotia is an eminent scholar in cytogenetic and biomedical research from Dept of Zoology, BHU. He is well known for his pioneering contributions in the field of chromosome organization & replication in drosophila. He is an active member of several policy making bodies instituted by Govt of India.
Prof. Lakhotia recalled the genesis of two well-known educational Institutions, Indian Institute of Sciences-Bangalore and Banaras Hindu University-Varanasi and their contributions in nurturing intellectuals and imparting knowledge to the nation’s growth. He recalled the dialogue between Swami Vivekananda and J. N. TATA during their Westward, which seeded the institution of IISc –Bangalore. Later the thought process of having higher education in India by Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya resulted in the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University.
Prof. Lakhotia also shared the three basic principles of education from Sri Aurobindo, “1) Nothing can be taught-the teacher is not an instructor or a task-master, he is a helper and a guide. 2) The mind has to be consulted in its own growth-the idea of hammering the child into the shape desired by the parent or the teacher is barbaric and ignorant superstition. 3) Work from the near to far, from that which is that which shall be”. With a curious mind and independent thinking, Sir CV Raman discovered the “Scattering of light” now called the “Raman Effect”, which led him to the Nobel Prize. That’s why our country is recognizing his contributions to the field of science to see in Sir CV Raman an example of independent thinking, and we celebrate Sir CV Raman’s birthday as “National Science Day”.
Prof. Lakotia reminded that the University community should set an example of Integrity, efficiency & upright behavior. The kind of education we provide for our youth is determined by the kind of men and women we hire as teachers”. The teacher shows the ‘path’ towards building a society, which translates into nation building. He also shared his views on “how to improve higher education in India” by proactively promoting the quality education and research through a trans-disciplinary approach rather than sticking to state-of-the-art facilities. All this will be possible by having competitive manpower, deserving students, adequate infrastructure, conducive environment and governance.
Prof. BJ Rao, Vice Chancellor shared his thoughts on the implementation of New Education Policy (NEP). Prof. Nagaraju Gundemeda, Dean-Students’ Welfare and Dr. A. Bindu Madhava Reddy, Coordinator, National Service Scheme (NSS), faculty and researchers from across India participated in the event. The program ended with a Vote of Thanks by Prof. Santosh Kannade, Deputy Dean-Students’ Welfare at UoH.
Watch the full video of the talk at the link below: