I am delighted to participate in the inauguration of Jammu and Kashmir EDUSAT network which will enable conduct of virtual class rooms in 38 degree colleges, 29 ITIs and polytechnics and 38 higher secondary school spread in different parts of the State. I congratulate J&K State Government and Indian Space Research Organization for undertaking this venture for promoting quality education among the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. I have visited J&K number of times during the last four years. Even earlier when I was Scientific Adviser to Raksha Manthri I have visited Leh many times.

During these visits I have participated in the inauguration of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Convocation of Jammu University, visited Regional Research Laboratory, Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Mata Vaishno Devi temple, Hazratbal Dargah, interacted with students of National Institute of Technology, Students of College of Women, children and teachers, met Buddhist monks, Kashmiri Pandits and met the Armed Forces personnel in our forward areas. Meeting and interacting with different cross section of the people in Jammu and Kashmir has always been an enriching experience for me. I recall the inaugural class which I took in Sri Mata Vaishno Devi University attended by 40 MBAs students. Now, with the availability of the EDUSAT system, I will be able to interact with a larger number of students in a virtual class room environment. This EDUSAT system will definitely enhance the capacity building among the youth of J&K and prepare them for nation building tasks.

The five capacities required to be built through the education process are research and inquiry, creativity, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership. If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce ?Autonomous Learner? a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. These are the leaders who would work together as a ?Self-organizing Network? and transform any State as a prosperous State. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the confidence among the students is the spirit of ?we can do it?. I am sure the EDUSAT connectivity will be able to act as a leverage for providing these capacities among large number of J&K youth. These capacities in turn will enable the students to meet the challenges of our national mission of transforming the nation into a developed country by 2020.

Electronic connectivity can act as a substitute for physical connectivity when the available bandwidth is adequate. The role EDUSAT will perform will be that of a knowledge leveler, an instrument for ensuring that every youth in J&K gets the same level of access to the knowledge resources as any other youth in our country. This kind of connectivity is like running the Bus from Srinagar to Delhi in the economic domain, a knowledge bus that connects every part of J&K to the rest of the country.

My best wishes to all the participants in this programme in their mission of promoting cost effective quality education among the youth of J&K.

May God bless you.

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