Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan called on India's universities and colleges to transform themselves into globally competitive research institutions that attract talent, funding, and international partnerships, moving beyond traditional rote-learning models.
What VP Radhakrishnan said
According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB) official release and coverage by The Tribune, Radhakrishnan addressed an assembly of academic leaders in New Delhi on August 29. He outlined a roadmap centred on three priorities:
- Boosting research funding at universities, moving beyond dependence on central government grants toward diversified public-private partnerships
- Fostering industry-academia collaborations, citing existing IIT technology business incubators as scalable models
- Creating dedicated innovation zones on campuses to house startups, research labs, and industry partnerships
He specifically cited the Indian Institutes of Technology's incubation centres and the Atal Innovation Mission as templates that could be replicated across state universities and colleges not currently part of the IIT system.
Institutional response
The University Grants Commission (UGC) welcomed the Vice President's address but noted that systemic structural challenges — including inadequate research infrastructure, bureaucratic funding processes, and talent retention difficulties — must be addressed before most state-funded institutions can realistically compete on a global stage.
Why it matters
India's goal of being a leading knowledge economy by 2030 depends significantly on elevating the research output and international profile of its higher education system. With fewer than 50 Indian institutions currently ranked in global university indices, the Vice President's call reflects a policy ambition to broaden the research university base beyond the IITs and IIMs to include regional universities serving the wider population.
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