Indira
Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
This Open University was established with the objective that the stream of education should make its way into every average household of the country. The United Nations had declared 1970 as the International Education Year. In the same year, a seminar was organised in New Delhi on the subject of Open University by the Government of India Departments of Education and Social Welfare, Information and Broadcasting, University Grants Commission along with UNESCO. The idea of establishing an open university evolved in this seminar. In 1974, the government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of P. Parthasarathy and the Open University took shape on 20 September 1985 in accordance with its recommendations and suggestions. It was named after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Those who are unable to get a college education in the formal way are given concessions in eligibility criteria, age and other conditions for admission to this university. In 1990, the IGNOU started an audio-visual distance education programme through Akashvani and Doordarshan. It conducted more than one thousand curricula of various branches. It provides facilities for education through 58 training centres in the country and 41 centres in foreign countries.
Research
institutes –
science In the post-independence period in 1950, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established with the objective to promote scientific research in the country and to take the benefits of the research to all the people. Research began in fields like physics, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, food processing and mining. In order that industry benefits from this research, contracts were signed with industrial institutes. That helped to reduce our imports and save foreign currency. This institute also motivated fundamental research. The Laboratories of the Council also played an important part in bringing back to the country students who had gone abroad for higher education. The achievements of the CSIR include making the ink used for marking voters’ fingers during elections, medicines for malaria, elephantiasis and tuberculosis, water purification technology, reduction in the time required for bamboo production. It also used DNA fingerprinting for the first time in India, conducted a genetic study of the Adivasis of the Andamans and proved that those tribes are 60,000 years old and developed the earthquake early warning system. It has also played an important role in the use of neem as a pesticide, use of turmeric for healing wounds and in the case of the patents for varieties of rice. The CSIR has prepared a digital encyclopaedia of Indian traditional knowledge and made it available in eight international languages.
Mathematics : The ‘National Institute for Research in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences’ in Tamil Nadu was established in 1962. It encouraged the highest level of research in mathematics. Computers : In 1969, we made the first indigenous computer named the ISIJU computer as this was achieved by the Indian Statistical Institute and Jadavpur University working together. In 1974, Tata Consultancy Services, (TCS), obtained an American contract in the area of software production and that was the beginning of the software industry in India. Computers also helped to step up the speed of scientific research. In 1987, America refused to allow India to get a supercomputer. The Rajiv Gandhi government decided to develop a supercomputer indigenously. In 1988, the Central Government established the Centre for Development for Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune and in 1991 the Centre under the leadership of Dr Vijay Bhatkar developed the Param-8000 supercomputer. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) : This institute has conducted valuable research in the fields of nuclear physics, solid state physics, spectroscopy, chemical and life sciences. It also started a school to train scientists for setting up nuclear reactors.
Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) :
India’s first IIT was set up at Kharagpur in West Bengal in 1951. The objective of this institute was that higher and advanced education in all branches of engineering should be available in India and meet the country’s needs. The engineering colleges at Powai, Chennai, Kanpur and New Delhi were converted into IITs. The Soviet Russia, America, Germany and the UNESCO all extended help to set up these institutes. The IITs in India were given the status of deemed Universities and BTech and MTech courses were started there. Admission through entrance exams, nominal fees and reservations for students are the special features of the IIT institutions.
In the decade from 1970 to 1980 a large number of IIT students began to leave for foreign countries causing the Brain Drain crisis. However, this situation changed after 1990. IITs were also established at Guwahati (Assam) in 1994 and in Roorkee in 2001. Indian Institute of Management : As high quality engineers were graduating from the IITs, the Centre and the Gujarat government started the Indian Institute of Management to mould skilled managers. Harvard Business School in America helped to set up IIM Ahmedabad. Other IIMs have been set up at Kolkata, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore and Shillong.
National Institute of Design : This institute was established in Ahmedabad in 1961 for the purpose of imparting training in industrial design. Courses in basic design, graphic design, product design and visual communication were started in 1963-64. The work done by this institute includes designing of the transistor radio and the calculator and the logos of Indian Airlines and the State Bank of India.
Research institutes - medicine In the post-independence period in 1949, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) was established for conducting research in the medical field. It was given the responsibility of cooperating with universities, medical colleges, government and non-government research institutes and giving them guidance and financial support for research activities. Twenty-six centres were started in different parts of the country for research on various diseases. Their research has made it possible to control tuberculosis and leprosy. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was established to give further impetus to advanced education and research in medicine. It was given the responsibility of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in medicine. Colleges for undergraduate and postgraduate education in most branches of medicine, good research facilities and well-equipped hospitals are the significant features of this institute. The institute also provides medical treatment to the common people at nominal rates. It has established special colleges for training in nursing, and superspeciality centres for treatment of disorders of the heart, brain and eyes. For further development of the medical field, the Medical Council of India was restructured in 1958 and was entrusted with the task of determining criteria for quality of medical education, its supervision and inspection.
These institutes have the responsibility of conducting research on various diseases, developing tests and standardisation of medicines.
Cancer Research : The Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer is a branch of the Tata Memorial Centre. It functions as the national centre for treatment, research and education in relation to cancer.
Research institutes - agriculture In India, research in agriculture had begun as early as 1905. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute was given the status of a University in 1958 and work began in departments such as development of the agriculture sector, research, well-equipped laboratories, soil science, agricultural sciences, economic botany and other departments. Research also began on wheat, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and many other problems. Its most significant achievement is the fundamental research it has conducted on the methods of taking multiple crops in a year, which has been of great benefit to farmers. This Institute maintains a library at its head office in Delhi which is the biggest agriculture-related library in the country.
In the next chapter, we shall study laws related to women, women’s contributions and the role of the government with respect to other weaker sections of society
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