New Delhi, Nov 2 (ANI): Asserting that innovation is the key to growth and development, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday hailed the efforts of the National Innovation Council (NIC) and asked it to renew its efforts towards bringing technology for development.
Addressing a gathering after receiving the second annual report from the National Innovation Council Chairman Sam Pitroda here, Mukherjee said: "While innovation is a result of networks and collaborations among multiple actors, Governments can play a key role in facilitating the right enabling framework in which these actors can interact.
"The NIC too has been working to create an institutional framework for promoting innovations in Government by facilitating the setting up of state innovation councils in each state, and sectoral innovation councils aligned to Union Government Ministries. I am hopeful that this will encourage various arms of the Government to think out of the box," he added.
"In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, 'innovation' is the key driver of growth and development. An innovative approach becomes even more imperative in our context, where there is a huge reservoir of unmet needs in areas such as health, education, water, food security and energy," he said."
"Innovation can provide solutions to such challenges and, in the process, also enable many more people to harness the gains from India's growth story," he added.
Asserting that India has tremendous untapped potential for innovation, Mukherjee said: "Not only does our demographic dividend and thriving democracy provide fertile ground for innovation, but our population of 550 million persons aged below 25 makes it imperative that we innovate to meet their needs in a sustainable manner, while also creating new opportunities for them."
Lauding the work of NIC, Mukherjee said it is playing an important role in shaping the next decade of Innovation.
"I compliment Pitroda and his team at the National Innovation Council for these pioneering initiatives. I also appreciate the full support that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has extended to the Council's endeavours. I wish the National Innovation Council all success as it goes forward in its task of catalysing innovation in the country," he added.
The National Innovation Council presented its second Annual 'Report to the People 2012' to Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The report highlights the activities and initiatives the council has undertaken to strengthen the innovation eco system in the country. It builds on the previous work of the council and outlines the new initiatives in the past year. (ANI)
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