Address at the Dedication Ceremony of JSS Academy of Technical Education Complex, JSS Mahavidyapeetha

Evolution of Engineering Education with moral leadership

I am indeed delighted to be here and dedicate the Technical Education Complex of JSS Academy to the nation. My respects to His Holiness Jagadguru Shri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji, Shri Siddeswara Swamiji Dr. Shri Sivakumara Mahaswamiji and greetings to the distinguished guests, Principal, Faculty Members and students of JSS Academy. When I am in the midst of you today for the dedication ceremony, a scene of Suttur in Mysore appears in front of me, where in the rural location, His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji invited me to inaugurate JSS High School, which gives totally free education including food to 4000 children upto 10+2 belonging to the rural area. This event prompts me to make a statement as follows.

Starting an engineering institution in India is not a big event as it is becoming a commercial venture. It is true in almost all the States. Engineering education is not affordablefor even lower middle class people, what to talk of people below poverty line. In such a situation, I see a ray of hope with JSS Mahavidyapeetha who have introduced affordable education for certain percentage of students. The JSS Academy of Technical Education will set an example to provide affordable quality engineering education to all sections of people including rural poor students and will spread the message of love and value system. Like this institute, I would request His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Swamiji to spread the education to difficult areas where quality education is not reachable. The purpose of academic institutions, particularly imparting professional education, is to transform the students into leaders in various fields. Hence, I have selected the topic for this dedication function as "Evolution of Engineering Education with moral leadership".

What can I do for you?

Every one of us has gone through the various phases of education from childhood to profession. A scene appears in front of me. A child, a teenager, an adult and a leader. How does each one react to a particular situation? The situation is human need. The child asks, "What can you do for me"? The teenager says, "I want to do it alone". The young person proclaims, "let us do it together". The leader offers, "What can I do for you". So, the educational institutions have got a tremendous responsibility to transform a youth into a leader - the transformation of 'what can you do for me' to 'what can I do for you'. That will demand educationists and teachers to be visionaries with an inspiring capability. Also he has to ensure that Faculty members impart learning to the students in such a way as to bring out the best in them and for this, he has to be a good teacher himself. I am sure, the best of creativity among the students will emerge by integrated influence of teachers and parents on students.

Righteousness

Recently, I heard a hymn in one divine campus which I would like to share with you. The name of the hymn is 'Peace in the World':

Where there is righteousness in the heart

There is a beauty in the character.

When there is beauty in the character,

there is harmony in the home.

When there is harmony in the home.

There is a order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation,

There is peace in the world.

Friends, we can see a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world. How to inject righteousness in the human heart? This is indeed the purpose of human creation - that is divinity. Can we inject this amongst students and teachers of this great institution which has a very beautiful environment? We are going through a complex situation as many of us are completely at war with ourselves, with society and with nation. At every instant there is a war in our mind, whether we should go in one direction or another. Whenever there is a dilemma, we must seek the wisdom from the Almighty to lead us to the path of righteousness through education with value system.

Capacities for nation building

The most important mission for the nation for which you can contribute is creation of capacities for nation building. In the education environment - what kind of human beings do we want to make of ourselves? What capacities do we want to give our youth? If we want to give them certain capacities, we must ask capacity for what? We want to give our youth the capacity for contributing to economic development and nation building.

What kind of nation does India want to build? India transforming into a developed nation by 2020, is the vision of the nation. There is a road map, how to achieve this? There are five areas for simultaneous development: Agriculture and Food processing, Education and healthcare, Information and Communication Technology, Infrastructure development - including River network and self reliance in critical technologies.

For achieving the above mission, the capacities required in educational institutions are: The capacity for research or inquiry, the capacity for Creativity and Innovation, particularly the creative transfer of knowledge, the capacity to use high technology, the capacity for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the capacity for Moral Leadership.

a. Research and enquiry

The 20th century was for the generation of knowledge. The 21st century will be about the management of all the knowledge and information we have generated and give value to it. We must give our children, the skills with which they find a way through the sea of knowledge that we have created. Today, we have the ability, through technology, to really and truly teach ourselves and to become the life-long learners that any sustained economic and political development requires.

b. Creativity and innovation

We can best teach ourselves by teaching others. The management of knowledge in 21st century is beyond the capacity of individuals. The amount of information that we have is overwhelming and has exceeded the capacity of individuals. The management of knowledge therefore must move out of the realm of the individual and into the realm of the society. We must learn how to manage knowledge collectively. In other words we must not only teach ourselves, but teach others.

c. Capacity to use of high technology

Every student in our colleges should graduate to know how to use the latest technologies for aiding their learning process. Colleges should equip themselves with the tools like hardware, software, laboratory equipments, internet facilities and provide an environment for the students to enhance their learning ability.

d. Entrepreneurial leadership

The Entrepreneurial leadership has three parts to it. First, problem finding and problem solving in the context of development. What do I most strongly feel is my need to know and learning this, how I can help others to satisfy their needs to know? Entrepreneurship starts with understanding our needs and realizing that as human beings we all have similar needs. It begins with wanting to help others as we help ourselves. In the second part, the willingness to take risk. Entrepreneurship requires doing things differently, being bold in our thinking and this is always risky. We must teach our students how to take calculated risks for the sake of larger gain. The third part is the disposition to do things right.

e. Moral leadership

Moral leadership involves two things. First it requires the ability to have compelling and powerful dreams or visions of human betterment. A state of things in which human beings could be better off in the future than they are now. Secondly, where entrepreneurial leadership requires people to acquire the habit of doing things right, moral leadership requires a disposition to do the right thing and influence others also to do the right thing.

Religion transforming into spirituality

A message I have received from my extensive travels within my country is that most Indians, experienced and old, energetic and middle-aged, young and innocent, they all look to religion for solace and safety. I have also visited great many religious places and houses of worship throughout the length and breadth of this great country and I have met many of our religious leaders. The religions are like exquisite gardens, places full of surpassing beauty and tranquility, like sacred groves filled with beautiful birds and their melodious songs. I truly think that religions are beautiful gardens. But they are islands.

They are enchanting islands, veritable oasis for the soul and the spirit. But they are islands nevertheless. However, if we can connect all these islands with love and compassion, in a 'garland project' for the new millennium, we will have a prosperous India and thereby the happy world in front of us. The institutions like JSS Mahavidyapeetha should take it as a mission. The Nations will target development milestone in a spirited environment instead of spending tremendous energy and time in problems initiated by small aims. Small aim is a crime. The big missions like networking of rivers and transformation of rural areas for economic development will definitely contribute for the vision of developed India. Let us go through the rural development scheme 'PURA'.

PURA - Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas

The graduates passing out from JSS Academy of Technical Education can dedicate themselves to contribute to the mission of developed India 2020 by working in the PURA programme. This mission envisages creation of rural wealth and prosperity. The model envisages a habitat designed to improve the quality of life in rural areas and make special suggestions to remove urban congestion. Physical connectivity by providing roads, electronic connectivity by providing reliable communication network and knowledge connectivity by establishing professional institutions and vocational training centers will have to be done in an integrated way so that economic connectivity will emanate. The PURA has to be a business proposition economically viable and managed by entrepreneurs and small scale industrialists, as it involves education, health, power generation, transport and management. Government's support should be available in empowering such management agencies in providing initially economic support and finding the right type of management structure and the leaders to manage. The PURA scheme makes clusters of villages developed, in addition to maintaining rural beauty.

Conclusion

Reverence for life is indeed possible in real sense if a philosophical thought of reverence can be transformed into actions by empowering different components of the society. When a child is empowered by the parents at various phases of growth, the child gets transformed into a responsible citizen. When a teacher is empowered with knowledge and experience, good young human beings with value systems emerge. When an individual or a team is empowered with technology, transformation to higher potential for achievement is assured. When a leader of any institution empowers his or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation in multiple areas. When women are empowered, society with stability gets assured. When the political leaders of the nation empower the people through visionary policies, the prosperity of the nation is certain. There is a need to empower the younger generation to explore new avenues for making faster progress in the development mission. I am sure with your deep sense of enquiry, creativity and spirit of life long learning alongwith moral leadership and spiritual guidance imbibed from His Holiness, you will be able to make the mission a great success. It is indeed an educational innovation of JSS Mahavidyapeetha to bring together in their system ITIs, polytechnics, engineering colleges and research programmes integrated and linked with employment potential.

My greetings and best wishes to you.