Hyderabad: Government universities facing heat from private ones says Professor R Limbadri in Osmania University

Osmania University: Universities can become reputed and earn a good name by taking up research activities that benefit society, observed State Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman Prof R Limbadri here on Monday.

Inaugurating a 10-day workshop on 'Capacity building on social sciences research approaches and methods' being organised by the Centre for Advanced Research and Training in Governance and Development, he stated that private universities were being launched as competitors to government institutions and that if quality research was not taken up, there was a danger of government varsities losing their relevance.

Prof Limbadri noted that more PhD admissions were taking place in OU. Yet, there was a need for students taking up serious research, as future of varsities depended on such quality activities. "If we don't protect our universities future generations would seriously suffer," he cautioned.

Prof K Shivraj, another guest, advised students to ensure that their research papers were scientific. Coordinator Prof Jadi Musalayya said the workshop was being conducted to enable research scholars to enhance their scientific knowledge. The 50 participants in the workshop were being coached by expert professors, he pointed out. Among those present at the inauguration were OU Social Sciences Dean Prof Ashok Naidu, Political Science department Head Prof Chenna Basavayya, Prof Ram Reddy and Dr Barla Venkateshwarlu.