India’s scientific community should work to make the country aatmanirbhar (self-reliant), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. He said fulfilling India’s requirements should be at the root of all inspiration for the scientific community.
Addressing the108th Indian Science Congress at Nagpur in Maharashtra through videoconference, the Prime Minister expressed happiness about the theme of the event this year, which combines sustainable development with women empowerment. “Our thinking is not merely to empower women through science but also empower science by the contribution of women,” Mr. Modi said.
Highlighting the achievements of women who showcased their strength to the world, be it in partnership in small industries and businesses or leadership in the start-up world, the Prime Minister gave the example of Mudra Yojana, which has been instrumental in empowering women of India.
He also pointed to the doubling of women’s participation in the field of extramural research and development. “The increasing participation of women is proof that women and science are both progressing in the nation,” he said.
With India assuming Presidency of the G-20, the Prime Minister said that women-led development would be one of the high-priority subjects to be taken up by the chair.
Emphasising the need to work on subjects that are of importance to the entire humanity, Mr. Modi stressed close collaboration between scientists and the industry. As 17% to 18% of the world’s population reside in India, the progress of such a large number of people would have have its impact in global advancement too, Mr. Modi said.
He said that the efforts of scientists can turn into great achievements only when they come out of the laboratory and reach the people.
To address the growing energy needs of the country, the Prime Minister said that India was working on a National Hydrogen Mission and stressed the need to manufacture critical equipment like electrolysers in India to make it a success.
Speaking about the results of India’s tryst with the scientific approach, the Prime Minister said India was now among the top three nations in terms of the number of Ph.Ds and start-up ecosystems.
“India moved to the 40th place in the Global Innovation Index in 2022 from the 81st place [in the GII] in 2015 in a list of 130 countries,” he said.
He said that when scientific achievements bridged the distance between experiments to people’s experiences, it gave out an important message and impressed the younger generation of the potential of science. In order to help such youth, the Prime Minister emphasised the need for an institutional framework.
“Children with scientific temper can be discovered through talent hunts and hackathons,” Mr. Modi said, while highlighting the abundant availability of data and technology in the 21st-century India which had the potential to take Indian science to new heights.
- India’s scientific community should work to make the country aatmanirbhar (self-reliant), said Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Addressing the108th Indian Science Congress at Nagpur in Maharashtra through videoconference, the Prime Minister expressed happiness about the theme of the event this year, which combines sustainable development with women empowerment
- With India assuming Presidency of the G-20, the Prime Minister said that women-led development would be one of the high-priority subjects to be taken up by the chair
- Speaking about the results of India’s tryst with the scientific approach, the Prime Minister said India was now among the top three nations in terms of the number of Ph.Ds and start-up ecosystems.
