Mysore/Mysuru: Prof. K.S. Rangappa, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Mysore (UoM) and KSOU said that the Government should give equal priority for teaching and research, as the two should go along together for achieving success.

He was speaking after inaugurating  a workshop on the topic “Preventing Plagiarism: The first step towards Qualitative Research” organised jointly by CSIR-UGC NET Training Centre, IQAC and University of Mysore Researchers Association at EMRC auditorium in Manasagangothri campus here recently.

Regretting that Government funding for University research is on the downslide, Prof. Rangappa observed that Fellowships are becoming far lesser as compared to the earlier days. This has resulted in researchers losing interest, he said adding that the Government should take note of this and take measures for more funding.

Maintaining that Mysore Varsity has earned a name for itself because of research and researchers, he bemoaned that of late, the number of those entering the field of research is decreasing constantly and as such there is dearth of quality thesis. He wanted the Government to give equal importance to State Universities as it does for IIM and IISc.

Contending that such countries which give importance for Research and Development (R&D) will become superpowers, Prof. Rangappa cited the example of Japan and China, which have a strong R & D base.

Expressing disappointment over rampant plagiarism in research papers, Prof. Rangappa said that, however, plagiarism can be easily tracked with the help of a specially developed software. Arguing that it is not easy to have research papers published in foreign Journals, he said that researchers should be highly qualitative in their work. Wanting the UGC to allow publication of theses, he said that this will help in curbing plagiarism.

UoM Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. H. Rajashekar presided.

IQAC Director Prof. K.N. Amrutesh, Prof. K.R. Shivanna, Prof. Muzaffar Assadi, Prof. H.T. Basavarajappa, Prof. T.R. Maruti, Prof. N. Madialagan, Prof. B. Shankar and others were present.