Social activist Sarojini Varadappan inaugurates 'Integra 2006''

Chennai, Nov 24 (UNI) ''Integra 2006'', a campaign to create an awareness on communal harmony and raise funds for the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH) was inaugurated here.

Organised by the SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre along with NFCH for the first time, the event was inaugurated by popular social activist Sarojini Varadappan in the presence of SRM University Vice-chancellor Prof P Sathyanarayanan and VGP Group Chairman Dr V G Santhosam yesterday.

The three-day Integra-06 is an intra-university, multi-institutional cultural extravaganza aimed at promoting awareness among the students on national integration and communal harmony and also collect aid for NFCH's charitable activities.

Prof P Sathyanarayanan later told reporters that the NFCH was involved in activities like rehabilitation of destitute children affected in communal, caste, ethnic, terrorist and other forms of violence that fractures the Indian society.

He said the proceeds of Rs two lakh accrued from Integra-2006, by way of cultural programmes and various events, and along with a matching contribution from the University would be given to the NFCH to continue its welfare activities.

More than 1,000 students of the SRM University and the SRM Medical College Hospital, and students from other colleges, invited as special invitees, participated in various programmes, like music and dance, rangoli and other events.

''We are committed to provide funds for NFCH every year. This year the theme is Communal Harmony as it coincided with National Flag Day. Next year it would be organised on a different theme'', Prof Sathyanarayanan said.

Inaugurating the event, Ms Sarojini Varadappan said youth were supremely important asset of every nation, adding that it was the responsibility of the institutions that programmes for youth should find a prominent part in national plans for developement.

This would help the youth grow as robust citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and morally healthy and they would endowed with the skills and motivation needed by the society.

Stating that education was an important channel by which a person could think of development as an individual and a member of the society, she said education institutional should not be mere shopping centre of knowledge and information, thus ignoring the primary purpose of character formation.

Quoting Winston Churchill, she said the first duty of the university was to teach wisdown, not trade, and character and not technicalities. ''If the Indian society is plagued by so much violence and corruption in public life, it is to a great extent due to the absence of character building and value-based education''.

''Colleges should go out of the way to stress the need and importance of character and virtues in one's life and educational institutions have an obligation to instill in students, the values of core, honesty, truthfulness, justice and the ideals expressed in Indian Constitution'', she added.

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