New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee expressed concern over few IIT students opting for research, saying this can deprive the country of a talented workforce in the long term.
"I understand that very few IIT graduates are pursuing specialised education leading to Ph.D. or any other higher degree. In the long term, this will deprive the country of the talented specialised technical personnel who are the most important assets in a knowledge economy," Mukherjee said.
He was speaking at the annual convocation of The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D)
He emphasised that the Institute should devise a strategy so that more and more undergraduates enroll in post-graduate programmes.
"This country needs to produce not thousands but lakhs of Ph.D. students for India to become a technical superpower. IIT, Delhi, through its innovative schemes, can really take a lead in this direction," he said.
He urged the students to rethink about their career options.
The President said in India, against the total student strength of 71,000 in National Institutes of Technologies, there are only about 4000 Ph.D. students. In IITs, against the total student strength of 60,000, there are only around 3,000 Ph.D. students.
Mukherjee said India ranks 12th amongst the top 20 countries, in terms of publications on science and technology.
He said the country has 119 researchers in research and development per million people as compared to 715 of China and 468 of the United States.
"There is a need to improve our standing in terms of publications and researchers employed in research and development field. That is possible only if the brightest students take up research and development at a young age," he added.
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