By IANS
Hyderabad : Calling for imparting modern education through Indian languages, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh Saturday warned that real growth was not possible in India if it was based on "exclusive English-led urban model".
Delivering the convocation address at the second convocation of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) here, he said the urban and English-centric growth is an unviable and exclusive model would do a disservice to the spirit of India.
Singh, who was conferred an honorary D.Litt. degree by the university on the occasion, said education had to play a "socially empowering role", given the social and linguistic diversity of the country.
"The workforce has to draw strength from myriad languages and cultures that contribute to the country as vast and diverse as ours," he said.
"It is in the inclusiveness that the future of world democracies lies and certainly not in the controlled, exclusive partnerships," Singh said while terming the Urdu university as a "symbol of India's inclusive democracy".
"Imparting modern education and empowering language universities in Indian languages is the biggest challenge we face today," he said.
He claimed that the central government had taken several initiatives for promotion of the Urdu language including establishment of academies for professional development of Urdu teachers at Aligarh Muslim University, MANUU and Jamia Millia Islamia.
He said the government had also accepted the proposal of the Urdu university for establishment of modern Urdu schools on the lines of Kendriya Vidyalayas.
The University Grants Commission had allocated Rs.70 million to set up an Instructional Media Centre in the MANUU campus.
He was all praise for MANUU for creating a strong academic base for education through Urdu. Established in 1998, MANUU now has over 70,000 students on rolls in its distance education programmes and a network of over 100 study centres across the country, imparting graduate and postgraduate courses in various streams.
The minister gave away 20 gold medals to students who had secured first ranks in various courses. Over 3,000 graduates and postgraduates were awarded degrees at the convocation.
Along with Singh, Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai and National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language vice-chairman Shamsur Rahman Farooqi were also conferred honorary D.Litt. degrees by the university.
Vice-Chancellor A.M. Pathan said the university planned to offer courses in tourism management through distance education. He announced that the university would set up three Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Darbhanga in August.