New Delhi: All the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) need to work on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s vision of “Make in India" and “Made in India", President Pranab Mukherjee told the 16 IITs on Friday and asked them to collaborate with industries to channelize corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds into research.

“The council of IITs should focus on how IITs can become a source for meeting technology needs of government and become a harbinger of the vision—‘Make in India’ and ‘Made in India’," the President said in his address to the IIT directors and chairmen.

Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence Day speech, had emphasized the need for India to become a manufacturing hub to create jobs and invited foreign investors to the country. “I want to tell the people of the whole world: come, make in India. Come and manufacture in India. Go and sell in any country of the world, but manufacture here. We have skill, talent, discipline and the desire to do something. We want to give the world an opportunity that come make in India," he said on 15 August.

Modi, who also attended the meeting with IIT chiefs at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, mentioned several areas where India is dependent on imports, ranging from defence equipment to items such as currency ink and tear gas.

“I refuse to believe that India does not have the talent to make these things," said Modi.

The Prime Minister also asked the 16 top engineering and technology schools to provide innovative and economical solutions to achieve the “housing for all" goal of the central government and contribute towards user-friendly innovations in Indian Railways.

Mukherjee said IITs need to collaborate more with industry houses to channelize CSR funds to research. “Engagement with corporates to channelize CSR funds into research and education in IITs can lead to a win-win situation," Mukherjee said, according to a Twitter message posted by the presidential palace.

Though there was no official communication from the human resource development ministry, authorities said that the President took up the issue of world ranking and how to better the governance structure of these top institutions. None of the IITs are in the top 100 global universities list.

“There is a strong feeling that IITs are good enough to be in the top universities list but they have not found top rankings.... Both the President and the ministry believes that efforts must be done to improve this image," said the government official, requesting anonymity.

“There is need for soul searching on what is holding back good governance in institutes of higher learning. If our institutes of higher learning are to compete with the best in the world, governance of these institutes must be comparable to the best in the world. He (Mukherjee) called upon the council of IITs to draw up a road map for governance in line with the best global practices and implement it without any delay," a press statement from Rashtrapati Bhawan said.

Mukherjee said constraints such as a shortage of faculty should be urgently addressed. The vacancy position in IITs varies from 10% to 52%, and the overall vacancy in 16 IITs is over 37%.

“There is need to attach importance to the ranking process. This process provides a reality check and an opportunity to introspect and position the institute on a global map," the Rashtrapati Bhawan statement said.

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