New Delhi: Vice President bats for political empowerment of women

New Delhi (PTI): Vice President Venkaiah Naidu pitched on Monday for political empowerment of women by providing adequate reservation for them in Parliament and state legislatures. At the third convocation ceremony of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he expressed happiness over the fact that women constitute 51 percent of the students in the institute because of special admission policy for them, and those hailing from distant places and belonging to marginalized sections.

"I would also like to stress on the need for political empowerment of women by providing adequate reservation for them in Parliament and state legislatures," Naidu said. The Vice President asserted that the time has come for India to reemerge as a global hub of learning. "For this to happen, our universities and institutions of higher learning have to reorient their methods of teaching and focus more sharply on research. In Indian civilization, emphasis was always on a holistic integrated vision of education. We must bring back this multi-disciplinary approach to learning," he added.

Urging the universities and institutions of higher learning to completely reorient their methods of teaching, Naidu wanted JNU and other universities in India to figure among the top-ranking global institutions. The Vice President observed that the Indian civilization always laid emphasis on a holistic integrated vision of education. Urging universities like JNU to build on our strengths and raise the bar, he said all-round excellence and the ability to lead the global agendas must be the aim.

While the convocation was underway, thousands of JNU students clashed with police outside the campus as they raised their voices against the administration's "anti-student" policy.

The protests started in the morning and escalated as the day progressed with angry crowds of students pushing against police personnel in anti-riot gear. Shouting slogans and raising banners, the students wanted to march to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) auditorium, about three kilometres away from the campus in south Delhi, where Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was addressing the university's convocation. But they were stopped a short distance away. The students are demanding withdrawal of the draft hostel manual, which they claimed has provisions for fee hike, dress code and curfew timings.