Increase in productivity will help country to grow, says former Director of Indian Institute of Technology

Former Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, has said that increase in productivity, sharpening of our expertise and skills and improvement in our competitiveness will enable the country to grow. 

 Former Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, has said that increase in productivity, sharpening of our expertise and skills and improvement in our competitiveness will enable the country to grow. 

Delivering his address at the 21st convocation at Periyar University here on Wednesday, that was presided by Chancellor of the university and Governor R.N. Ravi, Mr. Bhaskar said that the country is currently growing from being the fifth largest global economy to becoming the third largest. “This cannot be achieved by mere increase in the number of working-age citizens,” he said and added that a large part of this growth will have to be achieved by an increase in productivity and skills. 

He pointed out that the first step towards transforming oneself into a skilled productive practitioner is arming oneself with a high-quality education with focus on achieving excellence. “Till we achieve the goal, our single-minded pursuit should be learning,” he stressed. 

The former director said that it is customary to think that extending a helping hand refers to sharing of money and other resources. “In the fast-moving world, those of us who are able to adapt better to it must not only do well in our own jobs, but use our knowledge and skills to create more opportunities for others,” he added. 

R. Jagannathan, Vice Chancellor, in his report, highlighted the achievements of students, faculties and the university at the national and global level in both academic and non-academic and also listed out the universities new initiatives. 

The Governor conferred the degrees on four post-doctoral degrees (D.Sc.) 502 doctoral degrees (Ph.D.), 99 gold medallists in person, while 61,413 candidates were awarded degrees in absentia.