President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to contribute to nation-building with user-friendly innovations.
Both flagged the need to build and strengthen indigenous capacity in developing defence equipment, besides security features and paper for currency. Mr. Modi also urged the IITs to help meet the goal of ‘Housing for All’ and modernisation of the Railways.
They were addressing a one-day conference of chairmen of the Board of Governors and Directors of IITs at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Calling IITs as “knowledge leaders” of the nation, the President asked the Council of IITs to draw up a roadmap for governance in line with the best global practices and implement it without delay.
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Of the view that till now the country has focussed on industry-academic inter-linkages, Mr. Mukherjee made out a case for a similar interface between government and academia. “The Council of IITs should focus on how IITs can become a source for meeting the technology needs of government and become a harbinger of the vision — ‘Make in India’ and ‘Made in India’.”
Stating that technology must be local, Mr. Modi asked IITs to address the question of how they can “teach our students the science of thinking and the art of living.” Referring to the import of equipment for defence and health purposes, he said: “I refuse to believe that India does not have the talent to make these things.”
The Prime Minister also wanted IITs to adopt nearby engineering colleges and mentor them.
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