Modi calls for home-grown tech solutions
KOLKATA: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITS) should aim for the next level and transform into indigenous institutes of technology, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, stressing the need for home-made innovations that are environmentfriendly, durable, and disasterresilient.
Modi, who was addressing the 66th convocation of Iit-kharagpur in West Bengal online, underscored that India can become a major player in the field of science and technology in the post-pandemic world, asked students of the premier institute to anticipate tomorrow’s problems and come up with the solutions today, and called for an improved ecosystem for start-ups, corporate and the administrative process alike.
“The scenario has changed in India in the 21st century. The needs and aspirations of the nation have also changed. Not just Indian Institutes of Technology, IITS must take it to the next level to indigenous institutes of technology,” Modi told students of India’s oldest IIT.
He asked students to be patient in their pursuit for research and innovation and asked them not to be demoralised by failures, which he said could “pave the way” for new successes. “The experiments which prove to be successful in this hugely populated country will not fail anywhere in the world. The more our IITS conduct research to overcome the challenges faced by India and come up with solutions, the more they would become mediums of global applications,” Modi said.
He cited the February 7 Uttarakhand tragedy caused by a glacant cier break and urged IIT graduates to develop disaster-resilient infrastructure that can withstand such calamities. “Climate change is a major challenge as natural disasters destroy infrastructure. India drew the attention of the world to the issue of disaster management,” he said.
Modi spoke of the need for making available safe, affordable and environment-friendly energy to people through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, which he pointed out India introduced to the world. Modi also referred to the global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, which he announced at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019.
He hailed the role played by IITS in developing technologies to battle Covid-19, and stressed that the premier institutes should work fast on finding futuristic solutions to other health care problems.
“I am not just talking about gadgets. I am taking about an ecosystem. We have to give solutions to the nation starting from prevention to cure,” he said. Modi appealed to students to focus on what he called “Self 3 — self- awareness, self-confidence and selflessness”.
“You should recognise your potential and move forward, move ahead with full confidence, move ahead with selflessness,” he said.