Bhubaneswar: Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) in Odisha capital on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Research for Resurgence Foundation (RFRF) to jointly undertake research projects in diverse subjects while sharing knowledge and resources and establishing strong academic collaboration.
The MoU was signed by Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA, and Mukul Kanitkar, National Organising Secretary of Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal. RFRF was founded by Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, a voluntary organisation with the objective of bringing a change in research outcome, methodologies and innovation-based technologies with a ‘Bharatiya’ prospective, philosophy and applicability.
Speaking on the occasion, Kanitkar said with this, RFRF had already signed MoUs with 194 universities. It intended to facilitate research work in the universities and research institutes from an Indian perspective, he said.
“The field of research included environment, which was facing rapid deterioration, and agriculture. It had already launched a programme ‘Know Your Rivers’ involving 1.40 lakh students which was helpful in collecting data
about various river systems in the country,” he said.
Pointing out that 18% of India’s agricultural produce was getting wasted for lack of storage facility and during transportation, Kanitkar said more than 60% of farmers with small holdings had no facility to store their
produce. Research was being done on finding small cold storage solutions and post-harvest management, he added.
Prof Nanda said SOA was focused on multi-disciplinary research with 16 research centres and 58 research labs. It was focusing on nanotechnology, biomechanics and biomedical research as also climate-centric investigation for
the benefit of the agricultural sector.
Kanitkar also called on SOA Founder-President Prof Manojranjan Nayak. Later, addressing students and faculty members on the subject ‘The role of research in the resurgence of India’, Kanitkar said a paradigm shift was taking
place in India’s education system with technical education like engineering and medicine being taught to students in their own language.
English education had been a hurdle in the resurgence of India and the need was to restore the country’s ancient glory by using the huge talent available locally, he said. Prof Nanda and Prof Basanta Kumar Pati of SOA’s faculty of medical sciences also addressed the gathering. Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students Welfare) conducted the lecture program.
