President Ram Nath Kovind has said that students and teachers should be sensitive towards empowerment of the marginalised sections of the society. Addressing the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Utkal University in Bhubaneswar today, he said education is the best tool of social empowerment. He said he stands as a proof of it too.

The President said the academic community should be engaged in research in areas that create not only a new knowledge base but also a knowledge base that sustains human society. He said environment, health and education should be taken up vigorously. Universities like Utkal that are endowed with multi-disciplinary faculty are better equipped to undertake this task.

Mr Kovind said the world has started taking note of the richness of India’s ancient knowledge systems. Our universities need to harness this and Utkal University can take the lead in this regard. The President said in a time of violence, intolerance and strife, it is our duty to remind everyone, especially the young, of the core values that Gandhiji lived for and died for.

Earlier in the morning, Mr Kovind laid the foundation stone of Paika Rebellion Memorial. It will come up at Barunei Hills in Khorda district to mark the completion of 200 years of the uprising of the ‘Paikas’.