Jairam Ramesh speaks at a programme in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, July 21: Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today asked the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), which will set up a permanent campus here, to produce politically unbiased and professional scholars and not protesters.

The remarks came in the light of continuous agitations and strike calls given by organisations in the region.

“There is much more happening in the Northeast apart from these problems,” he said earlier at a TCS function.

The minister inaugurated teaching programmes of TISS today, which operates from a rented place.

He said the study of social sciences has produced only sceptics who question growth, which needs to change and the institute should be able to change this trend. He also said the institute should attract the best faculty available throughout the country and become a national centre of excellence.

The Guwahati campus of the institute is being constructed on 15 acres of land located on the Assam Engineering College campus, at the behest of the state government and ministry of department of Northeast region. The UGC and ministry of human resources development have given necessary permission and approvals for the campus.

S. Ramadorai, chairperson of the governing body of TISS, said the institute would create a strong research capability within the region to produce cutting-edge knowledge in sustainable development, climate change, conflicts, peace and security and other areas of concern. “The Guwahati campus will be a world-class facility,” he said. Ramadorai also said the institute would have 1,200 students by 2017, which would include students from neighbouring countries.

Earlier, a new TCS learning and development centre was opened a the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation office. The company set up its first centre at IIT Guwahati. The new centre will train around 500 trainees annually. The TCS initial learning programme, started here in 2008, has so far trained 1,800 candidates, who have joined the organisation.

Ramesh, who was instrumental in getting the company to start a centre in the Northeast, asked officials to turn their training centres into earning centres.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi also inaugurated the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) at Kamrup Academy Higher Secondary School here today. Assam is one of the three states after Haryana and West Bengal, where the programme has been introduced on a pilot basis. Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the programme would initially be introduced in 60 higher secondary schools. He said the framework might be later extended to 1,000 schools, depending on the success of the first phase.