NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat on Friday highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches for ensuring sustainable growth and addressing key challenges faced by the society.
The JNU chancellor and former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was delivering the National Technology Day lecture at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here.
While innovation is key to global sustainable growth, innovation also demands a very multidisciplinary approach. Integration of knowledge across multiple branches and transformation of concepts and technologies into societal applications are important, he said. Today, the country needs ‘creative graduates’ who can address a bevy of challenges including sustainable development and climate change, clean water, transnational organised crime, status of women and issues connected to education, health and energy, Mr. Saraswat said. The country also needs to ensure penetration of education to a larger number of people, he said.
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Touching upon the second green revolution, he said it called for a multi-disciplinary approach. While the first green revolution increased agriculture production, the use of chemical fertilisers harmed the soil. This should not be repeated in the second green revolution, Mr Saraswat said, underlining the need for intensifying sustainable farming and climate-smart agriculture.