The First Grand Gesture of the First Citizen - President Murmu

     India can justifiably be proud of its impressive list of luminaries who began their career as a teacher and went on to hold the highest constitutional position of the country, the President of India. The list includes Dr Rajendra Prasad (January 1950 to May 1962), Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (May 1962 to May 1967), Dr Zakir Hussain (May 1967 to May 1969) and Dr Pranab Mukherjee (July 2012 to July 2017). Arguably, the most celebrated among these is Dr Radhakrishnan, who took to politics after a full and dazzling academic career. Fittingly, his birthday on 05 September is celebrated as Teachers’ Day. One of the lasting legacies of Dr Radhakrishnan was to bequeath the Viceregal Lodge in Simla, which had long been the official residence of the British Viceroy and then the summer retreat of the President of India as Rashtrapati Niwas, to the Ministry of Education for setting up the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS). Professor Niharranjan Ray, the founding director of the institute, outlined the vision of the institute as 'providing opportunities for such meeting of minds and commerce of ideas as are likely to extend our horizons of knowledge and wisdom and add new dimensions to our life and thought'. Sri M.C. Chagla, the then Union Minister of Education and the Chairman of the Governing Body, highlighted the uniqueness of the institution in many ways '…. in the first instance because in a palace which was the symbol of imperialism and of viceregal splendour, we are now going to have a symbol of scholarship and research'.

    President Murmu joins this illustrious company, having worked as a teacher for more than a decade before she entered politics. The First Citizen has already chalked up many notable milestones such as being the first tribal person to be the President of India and being the youngest President ever. She now has an opportunity to match the expansive vision and largesse of Dr Radhakrishnan – by dedicating the Rashtrapati Nilayam at Secunderabad, the official winter retreat of the President, to another nascent institute of national importance, the Indian Defence University (IDU). Spread over 90 acres, the erstwhile Residency (the official residence of the British Resident to the Court of the Nizam of Hyderabad), is located on the north-western periphery of Secunderabad Cantonment, with easy access to both civil and military areas. The size and location are ideal for the nucleus of the IDU.

            Rashtrapati Nilayam at Secunderabad - Pic Courtesy : wikipedia.org

    Initially conceived in 1967 to address the deficiencies in India’s security management system, and recommended by successive committees set up to deal with defence reforms, the proposal for establishing the Indian Defence University was approved ‘in principle’ by the union cabinet in 2010. The University has been “broadly envisioned as a teaching and affiliating University to

·     develop and promote higher education and research in National Security Studies, Defence Management, Defence Technology and allied areas;

·     serve as think tank contributing to policy formulation;

·     prepare the personnel of the national security establishments and the academic community from within India and from friendly foreign countries for high-level leadership, staff and policy responsibilities; and

·    create competencies related to national security issues.”

    The foundation stone for the university was laid at Binola in Gurgaon on 23 May 2013. Since then, as per open source information, only the construction of boundary wall, perimeter road, watch towers and guard rooms has been taken up and completed on the 200 acre complex. No significant progress seems to have been made to make the university functional till date. It may, therefore, not be too late to review the choice of location of the Indian Defence University and consider Secunderabad as an option for locating the Indian Defence University.

    

    One of the most vibrant metropolises in the country, Hyderabad-Secunderabad is home to a number of key operational, administrative, academic, research and manufacturing establishments relating to the defence sector. Two top level army training institutions, the College of Defence Management (CDM) and the Military College of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (MCEME) are located in Secunderabad Cantonment. Both are equipped with comprehensive libraries covering all aspects of strategic and scientific thought. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) also has a major presence in Hyderabad, possibly the largest in the country. In addition, the twin cities boast of several world class academic and professional institutions including the Indian School of Business (ISB), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), apart from a number of frontline universities. This profusion of learning and research establishments within easy reach of one another engenders efflorescence of critical domain knowledge and extensive inter-domain exchanges, so crucial for an institution that is founded to create national level competencies, and renders the twin cities as a very attractive location for the Indian Defence University. Excellent road, rail and air connectivity and balmy Deccan weather do not hurt either.

    

    So, on this Teachers’ Day, it may not be out of place for the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to lay the foundation for a magnificent legacy by bequeathing the Rashtrapati Nilayam at Secunderabad to the Indian Defence University and inject new life into this project of vital national importance.