CHANDIGARH, Dec 27: Food production and healthcare will remain the key challenges for the country aspiring high economic growth, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari said here today.
Finding outdated syllabus and poor infrastructure in technical education institutions as one of the challenges faced by the country’s higher education system, Ansari stressed upon making the students required resources available in order to make them employable.
“As we move forward on the path of high economic growth, growth of sustainable, green solutions in the field of water treatment, food production and healthcare will remain the key challenges,” Ansari said in his address at the inauguration of the 67th Annual Session of the Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON) at Panjab University here.
It was organised by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers.
“Chemical engineers will have to contribute in bringing about the necessary advances in food industry, alternative energy systems, semiconductor manufacturing, and environmental modelling and remediation to make our growth sustainable.
“These vital areas should be the priority for research and development in the field of chemical engineering,” Ansari said .
Noting that chemical engineers are known for their resourcefulness given the breadth of their scientific and technical knowledge, Ansari, who is the Chancellor of Panjab University, expressed confidence that they would keep up their “good work” and contribute towards country’s development agenda.
“I am confident that our engineers will continue their good work and keep making their deeply valued contribution to our development agenda,” he said.
He noted that it was essential to attract “best minds” amongst youth in order to see the chemical engineering flourish in the country.
“Given the challenges, in terms of outdated syllabus, lack of faculty, poor infrastructure etc, confronting our higher education system, especially the technical education institutions, it is important to make available to the students the best possible environment and required resources for their education.
“This is essential in order to make them employable by endowing them with the necessary tools and knowledge for their future professional careers,” he stressed.
Ansari said that chemical engineering would remain
critical for the economic development of the country.
“Chemical industry contributes significantly to improving the quality of life through breakthrough innovations facilitating pure drinking water, faster medical treatment, stronger homes and greener fuels… Chemical engineering will therefore remain critical for the economic development of any country, providing products and enabling technical solutions in virtually all sectors of the economy,” he said.
“Chemical engineering is also relevant for many new scientific advances which are taking place in diverse fields such as genetic foods, smart materials, drug delivery systems, agro-based technology, biotechnology, microelectronics, nanotechnology and advanced materials,” he said.
Observing that country’s chemical industry is the backbone of the industrial and agricultural development, Ansari said as per Planning Commission paper prepared for the 12th Five Year Plan, Indian chemical industry in 2010, with the size of USD 108 billion, accounted for approximately 7 per cent of GDP.
“The chemical sector accounted for about 14 per cent in overall index of industrial production. Share of industry in national exports was around 11 per cent. In terms of volume, India is the third-largest producer of chemicals in Asia, after China and Japan,” he said.
However, the Vice President of India said in spite of industry’s large size and significant GDP contribution, Indian chemical industry represented just 3 per cent of global chemicals.
“This suggests that much more needs to be done to bring our chemical industry to the desired level in terms of size, technology and products, given our aspiration to emerge as a high technology manufacturing hub for the world,” he said while stating that chemical industry was one of the oldest industries in the country.
Speaking on this occasion, Punjab Governor and UT Chandigarh Administrator Shivraj Patil urged chemical engineers to broaden their areas of research and development by focusing on biotechnology sector.
“In my opinion, new areas of science are visible to us. One of those area is biotechnology which is relevant to genetics. You cannot understand the importance of biotechnology without understanding the chemistry…Chemical engineers will be required to enter that area of biotechnology,” he said. (PTI)
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