Sunday ET: Centre is taking quick steps to ensure speedy court trials: PM Manmohan Singh

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said his government is working towards launching a national mission which will ensure that judicial processes are speeded up. He was speaking at the closing ceremony of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Bombay High Court.

The Prime Minister said people have very high expectations from the judiciary and the government will provide all support to the judiciary to ensure that it can serve the demands of the people.

At another function at IIT Bombay, Dr Singh said, “India today needs national leaders from the fields of science and engineering. Not just politics, sports and cinema. India still lags behind many other countries in terms of research and development and there is also a dearth of quality institutes of higher education.”

Singh added, “This is precisely why our government has taken initiative to expand the opportunities for higher and technical education in India. He also stressed that the investments made on higher education must contribute directly to nation building.”

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for HRD Kapil Sibal said IITs have been centres of excellence and India is proud of their contributions. He, however, said the IITs are facing a critical shortage of quality faculty and most of the current faculty is ageing and nearing superannuation, which is affecting academic productivity.

In Mumbai, the prime minister held a meetings with Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to discuss various projects, including a memorial for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Indu Mills in central Mumbai.