NEW DELHI, May 2: Research and innovation can play an important role in lifting people out of poverty, ensuring their health and well-being and achieving food and energy security, President Ram Nath Kovind said at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Wednesday.
Speaking at the one-day meeting of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities of which he is the Visitor, he said research and innovation is the bedrock of advancing knowledge and knowledge alone holds the key to finding solutions to the problems of the society.
“Pursuing research demands constant determination as well as full institutional support and thus our approach towards supporting and promoting a research culture cannot be pedantic,” he said Mr Kovind said that innovators can help find solutions to day-to-day problems while universities can develop mechanisms to support innovation and help grassroots innovators to refine their work.
Universities can play a larger role by incorporating community-oriented initiatives in their academic programs and engaging with the communities in their vicinity.
“Universities which are located in backward regions have a special responsibility of working with communities around them. Such community initiatives will further expand the horizon of students and prepare them well for life ahead,” he said.
During the inaugural session he presented the Visitor’s Awards for research in Basic and Applied Science and in Humanities, Arts and Social Science.
Sanjay K. Jain was awarded for his work on cancer; Ashis Kumar Mukherjee got the award for his research on the molecular complexcity of snake venom; Ashwani Pareek’s work on development of a high yield rice variety and Pramod K. Nayar’s work in the field of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences were awarded. Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar and Vice-Chancellors of 41 Universities were among those who participated in the event. (UNI)
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