Speech by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the presentation of dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards
I am happy to be
amidst you today in this prestigious institute which has excelled in higher
education and provided leadership for the management and business education in
the country. The fusion of excellence and relevance in this campus, which has
been exhibited through the creative and innovative ideas of young children from
all over the country, makes this institute magnetically charged with ideas and
energies.
2. At the outset, I
would like to congratulate the young award winners whose creative ideas and
innovations are at display at the exhibition organized by National Innovation
Foundation. It is heartening to see so many creative young minds tackling some
of the challenges faced by our society at such a young age. This certainly
augurs well for the future of our country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
3. Indian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad has had an illustrious history. It has excelled in
academics and given the best of the management talent to India and to the whole
world. Today, you can find the alumni of IIM-Ahmedabad working in corporates,
governments, public services and in many other areas. The alumni of this
institute have expanded the brand IIM-Ahmedabad globally. Today, I call upon
the faculty, students, and alumni of IIM-Ahmedabad to continue to engage with
creative minds from industry, business, entrepreneurs, society leaders and with
those who work at the grassroots. The Institute must continue to address the
pressing issues confronting today’s society. It must strive to be a beacon of
knowledge, nurture other institutions with generous mentorship, and maintain a
culture that blends the drive for excellence and performance with the spirit of
collaboration and compassion.
4. IIM-Ahmedabad has
been committed to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. The Institute’s
Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship has been doing
path-breaking work in strengthening the ecosystem of innovation in Ahmedabad,
Pune, Jaipur, and other cities all over India. I understand this institute is launching
a course focused on entrepreneurship in its PGP curriculum. This programme
offers scholarships to students and encourage them in pursuing entrepreneurial
dreams early in their careers. Elective courses such as Shodh Yatraand Rural Immersion Module encourage students to experience how
innovation is sparked at the grassroots and among the underprivileged. These
kinds of innovative programmes will help in realizing the entrepreneurial goals
identified through "Start-up India, Stand-up India” initiative.
5. National
Innovation Foundation and IIM-Ahmedabad, has given a global identity to the
Indian model of social innovation. An appreciable effort has been made by
various student clubs for community outreach activities. One of the intended
objectives of this community outreach has been to learn from the disadvantaged
section of the society and also to encourage them to dream bigger. I would
encourage the Institute to continue investing energy and resources in nurturing
innovations that accelerate the nation’s economic progress and create a
sustainable inclusive society.
6. Recognizing the
centrality of innovation to economic and social progress, President’s
Secretariat has taken a number of initiatives to bring inclusive innovations to
the center stage of country’s consciousness. Innovation scholars, writers,
artists, inspired teachers and students from central institutions are being
invited to stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for a period of two weeks. These
In-Residence Programmes are aimed to celebrate the spirit of innovation and
creativity and to recognize and learn from the success stories of the
individuals who have contributed to the cause of society and the nation in
their own way.
7. Innovation is key
to economic development and reflects the maturity of a nation and society to
respond to the emerging needs and challenges. Innovation is a continuous
process and needs to be nurtured at each and every step. Realizing the
importance of innovation in the life of a nation and society, Rashtrapati
Bhavan has started the tradition of hosting the Festival of Innovations. The
first Festival of Innovations was held in Rashtrapati Bhavan during March, 2015
in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation. This Festival
endeavored to link grassroots innovators with innovative minds at different
levels in diverse fields. The second Festival of Innovations will be held in
March, 2016. I take this opportunity to invite the participants who are here
today, to participate in the Festival of Innovations and take your ideas to a
global level.
8. Innovation,
higher education and industry need to be closely networked for maximum benefit
of the society. Any innovation happening either at the grassroots level or in
the higher educational institutions must be linked to the industry for
commercialization of the innovation. For this, as the Visitor of 114 central
institutions, I have been asking the institutions to establish strong
industry-academic inter-linkages. This is one of the ways to readily bring the
innovations in the market. For this to happen, I have been encouraging the
institutes of higher learning to collaborate with the institutes and industry
within India and abroad for creating a conducive ecosystem for nurturing
innovation and research. In the recently held Visitor’s Conference at
Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian academic institutions concluded 43 MoUs with the
industry in diverse fields. I hope that these kinds of industry-academia
collaborations will help the academic institutions in aligning their activities
with the needs of the industry and society.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
9. I am told that
National Innovation Foundation received over 28,000 submissions for the Dr. APJ
Abdul Kalam IGNITE Competition, 2015 from all the States and Union Territories
of the country. It is a great tribute by the children of our country to late Dr.
APJ Abdul Kalam, recipient of Bharat Ratna and former President of India. The
renaming of Award in the memory of Dr. Kalam is a fitting tribute to him, who
always ignited the young minds through his visionary leadership and creative
ideas. I compliment the National Innovation Foundation for this initiative.
10. Today, I visited
the innovation exhibition and found lots of ideas and innovations which can
address the needs of developing society, particularly the elderly people and
weaker sections of the society. The children have proved that innovative
spirits can dispel any amount of inertia and replace it with exciting new
possibilities. I am very optimistic about our future when I see the younger
generation which does not want to live indefinitely with unsolved problems.
Innovations from creative youngsters are the best examples of "Samvedna se
srijansheelta” (innovation from compassion or empathy). India is a country of
1.2 billion creative minds. The constructive use of these billions of minds can
free the Indian society from many of the problems which we are facing today. It
is for each one of us as an individual to make a commitment and to dedicate
oneself for solving the problems of society and country.
Ladies and
Gentlemen,
11. IIM-Ahmedabad is
a world class institution and a leader in the field of management education. I
am happy that IIM-Ahmedabad is mentoring IIM-Nagpur to create a new leader in
the field of management education. Today, this institute has taken a leadership
role in making suggestions for improving higher education system in India and
for nurturing innovation ecosystem. The suggestions made today here show the
commitment of this institute in two very important and critical drivers of the
economy – higher education and innovation. I will always look forward to see
the leadership flowing from this great institute in the areas of work relevant
to governance, public policy, innovation, higher education and
entrepreneurship.
12. I once again
compliment all the young award winners and hope that they will continue to keep
thinking creatively and ensuring an inclusive and innovative future for our
country. I wish you all a great future and hope that you will spare no effort
in contributing towards inclusive development of India.
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