Biswabrata Goswami
Hummingbird News
KHARAGPUR, 23 FEB: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressing the 66th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur said in the 21st century the IITs need to be taken to the next level from Indian Institutes of Technology to Institutes of Indigenous Technologies to meet the changing demands and aspirations of new India.
He said the new graduates represent the aspirations of 130 crore people in the country.
He urged the students passing out to work towards creating startups and innovating things that can change the lives of crores of people in the country.
Addressing the IIT graduates, PM Modi said that India’s premier engineering institution needs to be able to provide solutions to India’s problems in order to become part of global application.
The PM said that 75 innovations developed by IIT Kharagpur should be collected and showcased to the world to celebrate India’s 75th year of Independence.
Keep your eyes on the present and anticipate the future. Keep our needs for today in mind and work towards the needs of the coming 10 years, said PM Modi. He said that being an engineer, students have the capability to take innovations from patterns to patents. He asked students to study the problems of the present world and find solutions from them.
PM Modi further said the new ecosystem of the country needs new leaders. “Can we give affordable, effective, and environment-friendly innovations to the world,” he asked students.
He also said that the government has made geospatial data control-free. This, he said will give a boost to the tech start-up ecosystem and hence be a step towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
PM Modi asked the students to adopt the mantra of Self 3 to overcome their self-doubts and obstacles in the future. He said Self 3 is Self-awareness, Self-confidence and Selflessness. He advised the students to recognize their potential and move forward, move ahead with full confidence, move ahead with selflessness.
The Prime Minister emphasized the need for significant innovation for Industry 4.0. He lauded the efforts of IIT Kharagpur to transform academic research related to AI at industrial level, Internet of things and modern construction technology. He urged the institute to work fast on futuristic solutions in Health Technology.
The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of IIT Kharagpur on the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP 2020). He praised the institute for the way they were exploring knowledge and science as the strength of our future innovation.
The Prime Minister brought the attention of the students to International Solar Alliance and encouraged them to do research on clean energy, solar energy and areas such as electric vehicles, battery storage etc.
He also asked them to work in areas of disaster management technologies, especially developing disaster-proof housing and public infrastructure such as bridges. He talked about developing advanced technologies from prevention to cure in the health-tech ecosystem, typically in areas of affordable, mobile, user-friendly home-based healthcare appliances.
He talked about the Prime Minister’s Research Fellow scheme and Startup schemes that focus on supporting R&D and innovation opportunities for talented youth.
Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ talked about the students aiming to become entrepreneurs and job-creators instead of job-seekers. He emphasized how the National Technology Forum will improve research infrastructure in the country. Lauding the inspirational words of the PM, Dr. Nishank talked about how it will intensify the campaign for self-reliant India. It will give new freedom to young startups and innovators of the country.
Union Minister of State for Education Shri Sanjay Dhotre highlighted the importance of the fields like agriculture, energy, water for further R&D. He called ideation, innovation, incubation and development of technological solutions in technology sectors like Telecom, auto-tech, solar cells, fin-tech Space, Defence to strengthen the goal of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
2815 students were awarded degrees today of whom 75 students were invited to receive the gold and silver medals conferred by the Institute. In addition, several dignitaries were present to receive DSc (Honoris Causa), Life Fellow and Distinguished Alumnus Awards.
The Director Prof. V K Tewari, while presenting the report took pride in the recent innovations such as COVIRAP and telemedicine application which are bringing hope to the people of the country. He pledged to work more on product-development-oriented projects to support the cause of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. He also talked about setting up more awards for faculty and staff for them to pursue excellence.
Image Courtesy : IIT KGP
