Innovation need of the hour to bridge rural-urban divide, says IIT Director

Uday B. Desai, director of IIT Hyderabad, participated as the chief guest in the third convocation of the K.L. University (KLU) in Vijayawada

IIT Hyderabad Director Uday B. Desai at the 3rd Convocation Procession at K.L. University on Saturday. PHOTO: V. RAJU

India is in need of innovations that will bridge the rural-urban divide and the country offers tremendous scope to harness the power of technology. For the talented, there can be no better place than India to innovate as it has many opportunities in the form of challenges to be tackled.

Power generation, storage and distribution, water harnessing, affordable desalination for overcoming the problem of drinking water shortage and vaccines for diseases are just a few areas having immense potential for innovations, said Uday B. Desai, Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad.

3rd convocation of KLU

Participating as the chief guest in the third convocation of the K.L. University (KLU) here on Saturday, Mr. Desai said a lot of work has been done on innovations required for bridging the gap between rural and urban areas but much more remained to be done for making the desired headway.

Emphasis should be on providing the same amenities available in urban India in the rural areas also for improving the standards of living.

As the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had envisaged, the focus should be on innovations that would accomplish Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA).

Mr. Desai went on to stress the need for students passing out of colleges and universities to become contributors to innovations rather than be mere consumers of the advances taking place rapidly.

Vehicle for change

He asserted that technological entrepreneurship would be the vehicle for social change and innovators should play their role as the agents of that change.

Later, Mr. Desai was conferred honorary doctorate by KLU Chancellor G.L. Datta in recognition of his achievements in different capacities in varied fields and original degrees presented to more than 1,000 B.Tech, M.Tech and MBA students by the dignitaries.

Varsity Vice-Chancellor R. Sreehari Rao presented the Convocation Report at the function.

Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation president Koneru Satyanarayana, KLU Registrar N. Rangaiah and others were present on the occasion.