Dr S B Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) felicitates Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at an event in Pune on Sunday. (Express Photo) Dr S B Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) felicitates Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at an event in Pune on Sunday. (Express Photo)

UNION FINANCE Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that two key sectors — judiciary and education — have remained essentially “untouched” for a long time. Jaitley was addressing the 14th convocation ceremony at the Symbiosis International (Deemed University). He said, “Some of the sectors have remained untouched, two of them being the judiciary and the education system. A lot needs to be done in the education system. It is time to chart a roadmap to bring in reforms, changes and improvements.”

The Union minister also emphasised on the need for having an integrated approach towards gaining core competence, similar to the one that was adopted to introduce economic reforms in 1991. He also highlighted the changing demographics of the country and said governments today were working towards pushing reforms faster. “With India, during the last 25 years, becoming more aspirational and impatient, it has compelled governments to fasten and make structural changes in its system,” he added.

To raise the quality of education, Jaitley said, the institutes should maximise the use of both government and external resources. “We have realised the importance of education. For a country like ours, having such a large population can either be seen as an asset or a liability. Until we stabilise the population growth… we need to think about how to channelise the population to the best of its capacity with available resources,” he added.

Drawing parallels with the Indian economy, the minister said a restricted approach cannot progress much. “We could see a sea change in our economy, what existed prior to 1991 and how it took shape post liberalisation… Restrictions were never helpful and they only held us back. Therefore, now, with private sector interests, philanthropy, trusts and others working outside the government ambit, instead of having smaller islands of excellence, we need both government and other resources to build more institutions,” he said.

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