Sikkim University-
Interview with Mahendra Lama-illustrious VC of Sikkim Central University


Payal Shah talks to Mahendra Lama, vice-chancellor of Sikkim Central University, on higher education in the North-east and the role it can play in promoting integration and cultural development of a region in turmoil

OVER and above proper planning, resource management and quality control, says Mahendra Lama, are the key factors that drive the economy and contribute to equitable development. In an excusive interview with The Statesman he shares his vision of higher education in the North-east and the importance of infrastructural development essential to the growth of the first central university in Sikkim, the reigns of which he took over a little more than a of couple years ago. Excerpts:

To start with, your views on the higher education scenario in Sikkim…

It is gradually developing. There is a lot of scope for promoting higher education here because of the increasing number of students coming out of schools, strategic location of the place and, of course, bourgeoning new career opportunities in areas that have hitherto remained unexplored. Another significant development is that students in and around the state are very talented and will go a long way if we provide them the right opportunities. Education is only the way to earn a decent living, especially in Sikkim, and happens to be the only means of promoting tourism in the state.

You were a member of the state planning commission and chief economic advisor to the chief minister. What, according to you, is the relationship between economy and education?

There are three fundamental factors that drive an economy like that of Sikkim: natural resource endowments; clear and concise planning and prompt implementation with an eye on people’s needs and requirements; and quality of human resources. Sikkim direly lacks quality human resources and, therefore, the means of consolidating and sustaining development. This is due in large measure to the absence of institutions to prepare and build human resources required by the economy. The government has initiated capacity-building projects that Sikkim University will try to use in training, educating and generating a rich quality of human capital in diverse fields. Personally, I see a bright future ahead.

Tell us something about the scope of south, central, south-east Asian and south-west Pacific studies. What is current research in the field focusing on, especially at Jawaharlal Nehru University?

The entire south, central, south-east Asian and south-west Pacific region is critical to both global politics and India’s foreign policy priorities. The 21st century is invariably called the “Asian Century” where these regions are the key players. Any aspect from these regions will help you realise that nothing much has been done despite creating so many area study centres in universities focusing on this region.

However, as the chairman of this particular centre in the School of International Studies at JNU, I, too, tried to make an effort to reorient the courses, undertake substantive research on various non-traditional issues and, more importantly, collaborate with international institutions. Numerous teachers and students have been engaged in new areas of research and have contributed in terms of knowledge and policy inputs. But there still remains a lot undone in areas like migration, natural resources, culture, cross-border exchanges, agricultural and societal practices, non-traditional security threats and, obviously, the environment. At Sikkim University, we plan to undertake some of these programmes and researches in the various schools like Global Studies, Peace and Conflict, Sustainable Development, Biotechnology, Climate Change and also Law and Governance.

What is the future of the government-private initiative in education in Sikkim?

Like other states, in Sikkim, too, the government has been omnipresent in the field of education. I do not see any strong need for private sector participation at the higher education level — particularly the routine types that provide degrees primarily for money and make students more unemployable and uncompetitive. There are already six to eight universities in Sikkim — the state with the highest per capita availability of universities in the country. But there’s a palpable need for meaningful private sector participation at the primary and secondary school levels and also at the cutting edge research levels, including biotechnology, environment, geology and natural resources management.

You had reportedly said in 2007 that developing the first central university in Sikkim would involve starting from scratch. How has the university progressed in the last couple of years?

When I got the appointment letter from the President of India assigning me the task to lead the 23rd Central university of the country, I had nothing but the zeal, commitment and vision to start the long drawn process of building the university. But I reached Sikkim to find that there was not even the proverbial “scratch” from where to start.

However, the process soon began with meetings with the major stakeholders, hiring buildings and bringing officials from the state government and other universities. We are now running our 32nd month in existence and have taken several major and far-reaching initiatives. These include laying down the vision of the university, total revamping of college education, including the introduction of the semester system and a new curriculum with an avowedly global outlook as well as local content, implementing modern and interactive evaluation techniques and introducing several university-level programmes, among others. We are likely to get over 300 acres at Yangang, 56 km off Gangtok, where we aspire to build a green campus with local contents. We dream of making Sikkim and the adjoining areas a major educational hub, essential for the all-round development of the state.

What are the new initiatives adopted by Sikkim Central University? Have new courses and streams been launched?

We now have three sets of programmes — traditional, non-traditional and policy studies. Under the traditional segment we have schools like that of global studies, media, life science and others. Under the non-traditional one we are planning to introduce indigenous and folk studies, sustainable development, livelihood security, etc. We also have an exclusive school of policy planning and studies where faculties from inside and outside the university can participate. All these schools conduct inter-disciplinary programmes. We have programmes on border studies, disaster management, horticulture-floriculture and many other critical domains. We are about to introduce economics, Chinese and ethno botany and chemistry from the current session onwards.

We conduct the all-India entrance test in May and have examination centres in Bhutan and Nepal.

In the past you had expressed an approval of the semester system in colleges and universities. What are the advantages of the same?

All the nine affiliated colleges and the core departments of Sikkim University have successfully adopted the semester system. The system will facilitate intense academic progress and lead to prompt evaluation. It is useful to track and maintain the individual performances of students. Within the semester system we have introduced innovative practices drawn from the successful models of universities in

India and abroad.

How can your vision of Sikkim University as a “truly high class academic institute” be fulfilled?

Sikkim University is being designed in such a way as to make it known for academic excellence and innovative interdisciplinary research, for its all-inclusive institutional character, and it can emerge as a strong instrument of regional development and cross-border integration. Therefore, the diverse constituents of Sikkim University shall constantly aspire and relentlessly strive for innovative ideas.

The university expects to attract students and faculty from both within India and abroad, particularly from neighbouring Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. This will also help the schools and colleges in the region which still continue to attract a large number of students from these countries.

From the very beginning, the university has tried to ensure complete transparency, discreet individual accountability, targeted performance as well as banishing red-tapeism. We have to fight corruption in all its forms.

What kind of education instills a competitive spirit in students?

I think competitive fervour is instilled mostly by openness, exposure, orientation as well as inter-disciplinary courses and freedom of choice, which we rigorously practise.

Which is why, while designing the curriculum for each programme, we tried to rope in the best professionals, experts, academics and practitioners. The ministry of human resources development has told us that this is the first time such an exercise has been undertaken. We are keen to implement the educational reforms stipulated by the University Grants Commission.

Has education a role in getting Sikkim back to the Indian cultural and political mainstream?

I personally feel it is the institutions that play a critical role in the national integration process. Our national institutions have bound us together. Sikkim is emotionally well-integrated with the rest of India, which should be further consolidated and sustained by intellectual integration and institutional integration.

For me, the real mainstream areas are the so-called peripheries of the country — Sikkim, Darjeeling, Arunachal Pradesh, Amritsar, Kanyakumari and others. Without these, the notion of an integrated India will be meaningless and superficial.

source: The Statesman