Girja Shankar Kaura
Parliament has passed the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill 2022 on to transform National Rail and Transportation Institute in Gujarat to Gati Shakti University.
The clearance came after the Rajya Sabha passed the bill yesterday. Lok Sabha had given its go-ahead for the amendment on August 3.
The bill which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw seeks to transform the National Rail and Transportation Institute in Gujarat into a central university, called Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, under the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill 2022.
The bill seeks to create a university that will produce a talented, highly skilled, and dedicated cadre that will contribute to the development of India’s transport sector. While introducing the bill in Rajya Sabha, Vaishnaw, highlighted the need for a central university in the government’s effort to enlarge PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. Currently, the National Rail and Transportation University located in Vadodara is a deemed-to-be institution.
On August 3, Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan had introduced the bill in Lok Sabha. He said that the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya will generate appropriate human resources to meet the needs of the growing infrastructure of the country.
While replying in the Lok Sabha, Pradhan had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always works with a vision for the future and under his leadership, a future-ready workforce ready to embrace the fourth industrial revolution and challenges of the 21st century is being prepared.
He also spoke about the technological developments happening under the leadership of PM Modi and said that by 2022 India will be Aatmanirbhar in the area of frontier technologies.
Pradhan spoke about the transformations taking place in the infrastructure and transport sectors including roads, railways, shipping, aviation etc. He said that the growth of transport sectors, the building of airports across the nation in smaller cities and increasing air traffic is reflective of the aspirations of the people of India.
He said that the transformations taking place in the transport sector calls for building an institution to build a knowledge repository, conduct research, curate best practices, facilitate skill development, work on capacity building and facilitate the growth of transport sectors. He also said that the students of future would need to learn about the environment, commerce, and social sciences, in addition to STEM to succeed in the infrastructure sector.
Thus a world-class, multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensional futuristic institution called Gati Shakti University has been envisioned.
The Minister also spoke about the need to bring more and more youth in the mainstream education and skilling ecosystem in line with the vision of the National Education Policy. Our endeavour is to create a generation of job creators and not only job seekers, he further added.
Pradhan also said that a new work culture is being developed in India, in which what will be promised, will be delivered. Gati Shakti is another example of that work culture, he further added.
