Describing ragging as “criminal” and “disgraceful”, President Pratibha Patil asked educational institutions to stop the menace forthwith.

“Ragging is the most injurious, criminal and disgraceful practice which should be immediately stopped by students,” Patil said while addressing the 25th convocation of the Ranchi University in Ranchi on Friday.

The President said that institutions should be careful and stop the practice “forthwith”, as it brings bad name not only to the institutions, but also to the country.

Patil termed consumption of drug as a curse and said, “Drugs debilitate life. Precious lives lose their significance and are ruined. So please put a stop to it also.”

She urged students and the academic community to uphold the values of secularism and democracy enshrined in the Constitution.

Education, she noted, is one of the fundamental factors for development and no country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital.

“Globalisation has created an inter-related and an inter-linked world, and we as we have seen, the Indian economy is also getting integrated with the global economy,” she said.

Patil said the nation is committed to providing universal primary education and banishment of illiteracy, and described universities as important stakeholders in education.

Pointing out that the Gross Enrolment Ratio in the country in higher education is very low compared to the world average, she said, “Strenuous efforts are required to reach our goal of enhancing GER in India to 20 per cent by 2020.”

The entire grammar of development strategy has now changed from “tangible” accumulation of assets to “intangible” accumulation of knowledge, she observed.

“Ideas, innovations and intellectual capital will be the main determinants of higher productivity. Higher education must, therefore, develop analytical, creative and scientific capability of their students,” Patil said.

Patil said nations with high quality human resources would be counted amongst the front-ranking nations of the world in the knowledge era.

“Therefore, we have to be careful that by concentrating on quantity we do not compromise on quality,” she said.

She stressed on the need for the faculty to be equipped with required knowledge and technical skills to cater to the demand for global markets and said the curricula should be upgraded.

Pointing that education without community participation is incomplete in the present world, Patil said students must interact with local communities and understand their problems.