Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) The global security environment continues to be a cause of concern and the situation in India’s neighbourhood poses various challenges, Defence Minister A.K. Antony cautioned Wednesday.

Inaugurating the Gyandeep Centre of Excellence, a joint venture project between Indian Army and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here, Antony emphasized the need to strengthen the internal fabric of society and the nation to generate more strength to meet such challenges.

“The global security environment continues to be a cause of concern and the situation in our neighbourhood poses various challenges. There is a pressing need to strengthen the internal fabric of our society and the nation to meet such challenges,” he said.

“Our armed forces have given a good account of themselves during external aggressions, or internal strife. These veterans must be integrated into society as they could no doubt continue to work with the same dedication and commitment that they displayed as members of our armed forces,” he said.

Commending the Gyandeep programme, which aims to certify in-service skills and training, he said empowerment of soldiers was an important issue that must be addressed and monitored at all levels on a regular basis.

“Soldier’s empowerment will turn a new page as a result of the collaborative initiative between the Indian Army and IGNOU Gyandeep that has resulted in setting up a centre of excellence,” he said.

Noting that today’s soldiers are well educated and technology savvy, Antony said the effort at empowerment of soldiers would really go a long way in improving the gross enrolment ratio in the country.

He said the initiative would further enhance the professional competence of serving soldiers. “It will also provide them second career alternatives once they retire.”

The Gyandeep programme has been in progress for the last two years under which IGNOU issues certificates on the basis of in-service training of soldiers.

The objectives of the centre of excellence are to act as an interface among the Indian Army and the IGNOU community colleges and other universities; promoting educational facilities for army personnel by developing compatible and new curriculum; and promoting job opportunities for retiring army personnel.

The centre of excellence will also facilitate and promote research at IGNOU and other affiliated educational institutions.

The Indian Army chief, General V.K. Singh, who was present at the event, said: “Our aim is to empower our junior commissioned officers and soldiers, who get a great amount of education and military training that needs to be certified and to ensure a greater capacity-building for our officers.”

IGNOU Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai and Adjutant General Lt. Gen. Mukesh Sabharwal also addressed the gathering of soldiers and officers, emphasising the importance of the programme for army personnel.