In 1978, a 23-year-old from Nawanshahr, Punjab, decided to pursue PhD in plant physiology and moved to Australia after graduating from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. Fast forward to 2023, Hargurdeep Singh Saini, better known as Deep Saini, now 68, created history of sorts last week after taking over as principal & vice-chancellor of McGill University, Montreal. He is the first person of Indian origin to head the 202-year-old university in Canada, ranked 31 in the world and number 1 in Canada in the QS Rankings 2023. Earlier he also served as V-C of Dalhousie University, Canada and University of Canberra, Australia.
With thousands of youths from India, nurturing Canadian dreams, trying hard to crack the American code every year, Saini tells The Indian Express the risks of brain drain, the need to strengthen India’s higher education system and good old memories of PAU.
You are the first person of Indian origin to head Canada’s top university. How does it feel?
I am a Canadian of Indian origin. India is my mother and Canada is my adopted home. My Indian roots are an aspect of my life that’s always there but not something that is discussed often. I do my job as any other Canadian citizen. But I am aware that there are people who take inspiration from the fact that an Indian is heading Canada’s top university. I know I have a responsibility to act in a certain way so that they continue to be inspired. I am proud of how far I have come but it is not just my own achievement. I have had the experience of working with amazing people.
You moved to Australia when not many people used to but now scores of youths, particularly from Punjab, are migrating to Canada, the UK. Why do you think they are migrating now?
In India, particularly Punjab, students go abroad for two reasons: quality education and better quality of life. The second reason is concerning and not a good sign for any country. For instance, I went to Australia for my PhD as I was getting the opportunity to work with one of the top scientists in my field (Prof D Aspinall). It is a global phenomenon that people move to different countries for better education. Now, more Indians can afford to go abroad for studies and Canada is a very attractive destination. It offers quality education, and is an open society with great opportunities to settle down.
But if young people leave the country in hope of a better quality of life, it means they are not getting good opportunities here. That is concerning as when we say ‘better life’, it includes several things such as a safer country with entrenched rule of law, focus on justice, security, clean environment etc. India has to pay attention to this. If we keep losing our young minds because they don’t see a good future, that’s not a good thing for any country. At one point of time, Punjab was a jewel in the Indian crown but I am not sure if that’s the case anymore.
Why do you think that is not the case anymore?
Since I have stayed away from Punjab for a very long time, I cannot comment on the exact reason but when so many young people leave, it is surely a symptom of an underline problem. We know for sure that drug menace is one of the reasons. Drugs have been in society for thousands of years but there is a threshold. When things cross that threshold, it becomes a societal problem.
Where do you think Indian higher education system lacks?
There is a great diversity of institutions in India. There’s always a difference in the quality and nature of education among different institutions in all countries, including Canada. For instance, you have globally renowned universities such as McGill or the University of Toronto but then you have smaller universities that play a more local role. But the difference between these major institutions and others is not as great in Canada as in India. In Canada, you can go to almost any university and get a good quality education, but in India the disparity between top institutions (IITs) and the lower ones is huge. In India, quality control at the bottom is not up to the mark.
India has a long tradition of higher education, we were among the first countries in the world to have a university but we didn’t build on it after that. India still does not have any university that is among the top 100 in the world (QS or Times Higher Education Rankings).
Courtesy : The Indian Express