By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal : A day-long consultative workshop held here on formulation of policy framework for Special Education Zone (S.Ed.Z.) in Madhya Pradesh had elaborate deliberations on different aspects of the zone.
The objective of the workshop, jointly organized by Madhya Pradesh Department of Technical Education and Infrastructure Development Finance Company, New Delhi, on Friday was to elicit the views and suggestions of academics and reputed higher and technical educational institutions for establishment of S.Ed.Z. in Madhya Pradesh.
A message of the Minister of State for Technical and Higher Education Tukojirao Puar was read out on the occasion. He could not attend the workshop for unavoidable reasons. In his message the Minister said that concerted efforts are being made to develop Madhya Pradesh as an education hub. Efforts are on to ensure that students of the state are not required to go outside the state seeking quality education. On the contrary students from other states would come to the state for this purpose, he said, adding that world class facilities are being provided in education sector. He hoped that the deliberations of the workshop would be of great help to the state in formulating a policy on S.Ed.Z.
Additional Chief Secretary and chairman of the committee constituted by the state government for setting up of the S.Ed.Z., Pradeep Bhargva said that Madhya Pradesh has performed exceptionally well in spreading literacy.
The endeavour is to replicate this success story in higher education. For this, special attention has been paid to improving quality of higher education. The proposal to set up an S.Ed.Z. yet another major step in this direction. He said that the state government would come out with a policy on S.Ed.Z. in next two-three months. He assured the participants that Madhya
Pradesh Government has a positive orientation and it would be a rewarding experience for them to be with it.
Principal Secretary, Finance Sumit Bose said that the state government wants to speed up setting up of the S.Ed.Z. This would benefit not only Madhya Pradesh but also the industries coming here. He said that within the policy framework of the government and available resources facilities would be provided to the educational institutions in the proposed S.Ed.Z. About increasing the fee in technical education institutions he said that the orders of the Supreme Court are being followed in this regard. Besides, directives and guidelines of the different regulatory bodies have also to be followed.
Principal Secretary, Revenue, Pukhraj Maru informed that 653 acre land has been identified in Bhopal for the proposed S.Ed.Z. and if need arise more land may be made available. He said that land is a scarce commodity, which cannot be provided free, however giving suitable concessions is under active consideration of the government. He informed that Madhya Pradesh is the only state in the country to have computerized all the land records. He informed in detail about the rules and procedures of land allotment in Madhya Pradesh. He assured that any concrete proposal for land allotment would be duly considered.
Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Raghav Chandra made a presentation throwing light on the educational scenario of Madhya Pradesh. It also covered the different aspects of the S.Ed.Z. He said that the aim of S.Ed.Z. is to make a cluster of educational institutions to provide world level education to the students. This would help provide quality higher and technical education, which would attract students not only from all parts of the India but also from other countries.
Secretary, Higher Education, Ashish Upadhyaya made a presentation on the steps taken by Madhya Pradesh government for expansion and quality improvement of higher and technical education. He also informed about policy framework available in higher educational institutions of the state.
Referring to the new trends in vocational education he said that efforts are on to modify and modernize education accordingly. He informed that a Private University Bill has been introduced and online admission facility in colleges provided from this year.
Director, Town and Country Planning Ms Deepti Mukharji made a presentation on planning of different cities. She said that in case the proposed S.Ed.Z. is located outside the plan area, the rules of the plan area would be made applicable there.
Vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi Prodyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Dr. P.B. Sharma said taht the S.Ed.Z. should be set up keeping in view the educational requirements of the 22nd century. It should be a knowledge city with world-class educational institutions. He also emphasised on full utilization of available talent pool and informed about the innovations made by his university in technical education.
Dr. Rajendra Kothari of M.P. Chamber of Commerce spoke on rapid development in higher and technical education and stressed the importance of private sector's participation for its further development. He pointed out that land is available at comparatively cheaper rates and the environment is very suitable to located educational institutions in Madhya Pradesh.
The representatives of reputed educational institutions of the country and academicians gave their valuable suggestions about the proposed S.Ed.Z. in Madhya Pradesh. There was a consensus among them about setting up of the Zone and they assured of their full cooperation and participation in it. The workshop discussed various issues including availability of land, land use, regulatory framework for educational institutions, common infrastructure etc. They stressed the need for providing all necessary facilities including residences for the faculty, hostels, bank branch, canteen, libraries, auditoriums of different sizes, computer centre etc in the S.Ed.Z. They also called for minimum regulation to facilitate a healthy competition among educational institution, which would improve the level of education.
Lead specialist of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Palash Shrivastava analyzed the views and suggestions that came up during the daylong deliberations and summed them up. He thanked the participants for their active participation and the valuable suggestions they gave about the proposed S.Ed.Z.
Representatives from R.C. College, Bangalore; I.I.L.N. Delhi; Fortune Institute, Delhi, Thapar University, Gurgaon; Christ College, Bangalore; Sumaya Vidya Vihar, Mumbai; D.P.S. Delhi; I.C.A.I. Hyderabad and other reputed educational institutions of different cities of the country and the state participated in the workshop. ([email protected])