The most powerful weapon that creates meaningful changes in the world is the transformative power of education. It unlocks potential and achieves gender equality, empowering women to participate fully in all aspects of society, including politics, economics and social spheres. A leading figure, Dr. Manju Bala, Director, Khalsa College Of Engineering & Technology, Amritsar becomes a catalyst for positive change, propelling this cycle of progress and development for future generations.
Access to education is essential for women to overcome barriers, break cycles of poverty and contribute to the overall development of society. In alignment with it, we had the valuable opportunity to engage in an interview with Dr. Manju Bala, who shared abundant perspectives and a rich array of viewpoints highlighting the transformative impact of education on a broader scale.
Championing Women’s Advancement
Dr. Manju Bala, who hails from an academic family background has always found her solace amidst the pedagogical unit managing her role for 19 years. She notes that her parents’ enthusiasm and love for their job along with their constant desire to learn and make a difference in the world through education has had a positive influence on her career path. Her genuine interest in lifelong learning has cultivated the drive to not only instill knowledge and values to others, but also encourage them to share her passion for learning. Stepping into the leadership roles and inhabiting a sense of social justice, she has broadened the perks and benefits for the young people.
As a role model for students, Dr. Manju Bala exudes unwavering dedication to provide everything for the success and happiness of students both academically and non-
academically fostering all-rounders and bright future citizens. “The happy faces of the students are their ultimate reward”, shared Dr. Manju Bala on a teacher’s reward for their active contribution to a respectful and supportive learning environment. She understands that it is important to capitalise on peer strengths and work on their weaknesses as a whole for an inclusive and harmonious ambience at Khalsa College Of Engineering & Technology.
She acknowledges that family is the most important thing in the world and appreciates her tight-knit family for being her reliable support structure. She has been challenged with personal priorities but has successfully navigated her professional responsibilities with great joy and happiness. She strives for a realistic schedule rather than a flawless one and perceives balance to be attained through time.
The Unwavering Sustenance
As a curious child, Dr. Manju always got herself involved in the mechanics of how all things worked from which brimmed her inspiration to pursue a career in engineering. She was fascinated with the idea that engineering could design and build new structures and systems, optimising existing ones and developing new technologies. This reflects on her educational framework at Khalsa College Of Engineering & Technology where both students and teachers are motivated to give their best engineering solutions to protect, save people’s life and the environment.
She expresses the view that engineering is an impactful career with international career opportunities that demands constant innovation in a creative manner. With the evolution and rapid advances in the field of engineering, her insight into the matter is that technology and globalisation have turned countries into knowledge–driven economies and it largely depends on the capabilities of the people. She believes that engineering is the key to building those requisite capabilities.
When prompted to provide insights on pursuing engineering or related fields as a career to the budding minds, Dr. Manju Bala answered, “Engineering is one of the oldest professions that have stood the test of time. Since engineering is an ever-changing field, one has to be creative, a quick thinker, curious and someone with original ideas to make it in the industry”. In addition, she shared that it is a diverse field with many specialisations to choose from depending on an aspirant’s aptitude and interests. She also listed out some of the top career choices such as Civil, Aerospace, Electrical, Telecommunications and Mechanical Engineering that could bag a lucrative salary from the get go as hiring entities and not job seekers.
Validation And Meaningful Participation
Dr. Manju’s personal contributions have led to her career progression and institutional reputation and has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards as Best Teacher, both in 2013 and 2016 by Indian Society of Technical Education. She was conferred the prestigious, “Bharat Jyoti award” for her meritorious services in the year 2016. She has promising plans to build and promote her splendid ongoing creation, Khalsa College Of Engineering & Technology, into an autonomous institute to be accredited and ranked by all National and International bodies. She also has strategies to establish new centres in emerging fields like Bio-Medical, Mechatronics, Artificial Intelligence, IOT etc., to improve the competitiveness and survival instincts of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises – MSME.
“Khalsa College of Engineering and Technology is run by Khalsa College Charitable Society. So the ultimate motive of our institute is to uplift the society and nation at large by providing technical and professional education at affordable cost. We believe in providing education to all on the basis of access and equity’, graciously shared Mrs. Manju Bala on her role in the betterment of the local community. She has organised career counselling sessions, awareness programs on basic hygiene habits and free health check-up camps with students throughout their education. Khalsa College Of Engineering & Technology also offers free education to meritorious students and has established an NGO, “Ray of Hope ” to promote the needy and financially weak bright students.
She acknowledges the value of cultivating connections and so she has established a virtual parenting cell to develop the feeling of belongingness amongst students. This helps bring about improvements in student academics as well as personal growth. Exercising leadership, she has implemented advanced teaching pedagogy, embedding value-added courses and skills enhancement development programs along with the prescribed curriculum. Human values are imbibed through yoga and meditation along with NSS Wing, NCC Wing to instill the habits of discipline and oneness amongst the students. The institute also consistently works in doing collaboration/MOU with reputed government and non-government organisations for the upliftment in education, training and research for the students and faculty. Hence, with collaboration in everyday aspects of life, she communicates with intimacy and connection at the workplace, also inspiring women to up their game and become terrific leaders.
