Dilip Thakore interviewed Salman Ahmed, Vice President of Presidency University, Bangalore (estb.2013), which was established by a special Act of the Karnataka state government in 2013. Ahmed is an alumnus of Christ University, Bangalore and Coventry University, UK.

What were the major aims and objectives for which Presidency University was promoted in 2013?

The objective of Presidency University is to provide high-quality higher education. We discerned a shortage of reputable higher education institutions. The gaps were basically in the availability of holistic education institutions, especially a private university. We were the first to establish a greenfield university in North Bangalore. PU offers a comprehensive educational experience, focused on holistic development and integrated higher education.

Ten years later, how satisfied are you with progress of Presidency U?

Very satisfied. Thanks to our able leadership and excellent faculty we have an enrolment of 17,000-plus students, 600 teaching faculty and 400 non-teaching staff. We have quickly grown into a more than mid-sized university.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 wants all universities to become multidisciplinary higher education universities. Are you a multidisciplinary university?

Yes, most definitely. We offer engineering, arts, commerce, science degree and postgrad programmes. All except medical and applied sciences.

One of the hallmarks of a good university is placements. How satisfied are you with the placement record of Presidency University?

We have over 300 companies who visit our campus for recruitment and 85 percent final year students are placed in industry and business.

Among the companies that recruit our students are Capgemini, Infosys, Wipro, Deloitte — all Fortune 500 companies. Also HDFC Bank, ICICI.

NEP 2020 has mandated several radical reforms in higher education. Which NEP 2020 directives have you already implemented?

The Presidency University is wholeheartedly aligned with NEP 2020.The government has set out a transformative vision. We have subscribed to the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) which provides for multiple entry and exit from university programmes. Internationalisation is also a major thrust of NEP. We have signed as on date, MOUs with 132 universities around the world. They include many reputed universities and institutions of higher education.

NEP 2020 allows foreign universities to establish campuses in India. So they are likely to give some stiff competition. What’s your comment?

We are okay with foreign higher education institutions providing education in India. That’s in the public interest. But we hope that they will not poach our talent and take it abroad. Many students also want to emigrate. We want to retain our talent within the country.

What is your suggestion to government and others to retain our best people from going and working abroad?

Identify good talent and provide them excellent employment, research and growth opportunities.

India is now a $3 trillion economy, the 5th largest in the world. We should do more to retain talent. Therefore, the big focus of government should be for skills development and training. Our Presidency Foundation runs a skill development and training center where we provide vocational training to unemployed women.

There is not sufficient collaboration between academy and industry…. What’s the solution to bridge this gap?

All students irrespective of streams have to do an internship every semester. That’s a good way to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

So how optimistic are you that we can attain this target of $30 trillion GDP by the year 2047?

It’s definitely possible. The economy is already growing at 6.2 percent. That’s a very good sign. We need to invest in providing high-quality school to higher education to all children and youth of India. Investment in developing our human capital is the only way to attain the $30 trillion GDP target. Moreover, to accommodate more students, we intend to expand campus facilities. As of now we have built only 30 acres of our 100-acre campus area.  Construction is underway of a sports stadium 100,000 sq.ft area and world-class sports infrastructure.

What are the future plans of Presidency University?

The NAAC Peer Team has visited the campus and completed the inspection. we are waiting for the outcome. We have also plans to introduce online or ODL online delivery learning to students across India.