Assam: The government must try to bring higher education closer to the people in remote areas and remove the imbalances across regions and sections of society, said President Pranab Mukherjee.

"To make education accessible to more students, our efforts must be directed at bringing higher education closer to our population, particularly to those in remote corners of the country. We must remove the imbalances in the reach of higher education across states, regions and sections of society," the president said while addressing students at the annual convocation of Assam University here.

The president said that pursuit of knowledge brings gender equity.

"The northeast has focused its attention on education for women, which resulted in a large of number of northeastern girls pursuing education in major cities of India and also employed in metropolitan cities," said the president.

"India, with a strong scientific and technical manpower, has the opportunity to become a major knowledge power in the years to come. To make this dream a reality, we have to invest in research and development," he said.

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