Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday urged young engineers to use innovation and technological advancements for betterment of life of the common man.
Addressing the first convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Andhra Pradesh at Tadepalligudem in West Godavari district, he said innovation being the watchword for the 21st century, institutions like IITs and NITs should transform into hubs of innovation.
“You live in an exciting era of scientific and technological disruptions. Technological breakthroughs in the form of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data have transformed the way we live today.”
He said science and technology should make farmers’ lives easy as 60% of the country’s population depended on agriculture.
He said the efforts of the technocrats should aim at ensuring profitability to the farmer. “Scientists and engineers should create better weather prediction system and explore ways to make agriculture more resilient,” he said.
Calling for the need to boost the country’s food production to overcome malnutrition, he said climate change and global warming were realities one could not afford to overlook. He also urged the technocrats to champion the cause of clean energy and said technology was the tool that could help them achieve a balance between environment and development.
He also called for effective measures to ensure clean and renewable energy. Pointing to the fact that the country’s solar capacity had increased eight times between 2014-18, he called it a testimony to India’s commitment to the development of ‘zero emission’ sources.
Mr. Naidu said people should make judicious use of water which was becoming scarce and cautioned that in future, there might be water wars.
Decentralisation
The Vice-President said he was in favour of decentralised development. “I don’t want to comment on Andhra Pradesh capital, but I support decentralisation of development, with the focus on villages,” he said.
He said while working to achieve urban development, sustainable growth and clean energy, focus should also be on other key issues like the growing concern for pollution and congestion in cities.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan exhorted the NIT graduates to “set new targets and showcase their innovation and excellence.”
He said it was the moral duty of each individual to make a judicious use of the available resources through a sustainable development model.
NIT Director C.S.P. Rao presented a report on the activities taken up by the institution highlighting the important milestones.
