Prime Minister Narendra Modi said climate change and the resultant natural disasters posed a huge challenge to the world and asked the IITs to help develop disaster resilient infrastructure that can withstand their effects. Addressing the 66th convocation of IIT-Kharagpur through video-conferencing, the Prime Minister said the country had presented to the world its concept of International Solar Alliance for safe, affordable and environmentally friendly energy.
“Climate change is a major challenge before the world. India drew the attention of the world to the issue of disaster management. You can see what happened in Uttarakhand recently. We should focus on improving disaster-resilient infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters,” he said. The Prime Minister lauded the efforts by the IITs in developing technology to fight Covid-19 and urged them to find futuristic solutions to other healthcare problems.
Lauding the IITs for developing technologies to battle against the Covid-19 pandemic the Prime Minister said that during the pandemic people keep devices at home that measures blood pressure and oxygen level in the blood resulting in the emergence of a huge market of personal healthcare equipment. “Now things have changed. Earlier people only kept medicines at home but now they also keep machines to measure blood pressure and oxygen level in the blood. This has caused the emergence of a huge market of personal healthcare equipment,” said Modi.
“As an engineer, you have the ability to move things from patterns to patents. In this way, you have the vision to see subjects in a more detailed way. There is no scope for hurry in the field of science and technology and innovation. Technological failure always leads to new innovation. Have patience in everything you do and what you want to achieve. There is no place for quick success in your path,” said the Prime Minister.
Noting that the needs and aspirations of 21st century India have changed, PM Modi said IITs need to be taken to the next level from Indian Institutes of Technology to Institutes of Indigenous Technologies to meet the changing demands and aspirations of New India. “You have to become startups to bring about a change in the lives of people. You have to work on Self 3– self-awareness, self-confidence and selflessness. You should recognise your potential and move forward, move ahead with full confidence, move ahead with selflessness,” he told the students.
