‘Previous Govts lacked initiative, will’
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Sept 30: Maintaining that Startup Movement is major achievement of Narendra Modi Government, Union Minister in PMO with Independent charge of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh today asked the youth to come out of feudal mindset of Government job which is a big impediment in Startup culture in North India especially J&K.
Click here to watch video
Inaugurating the first-of-its-kind Startup Expo here, covering areas of Agriculture, Aroma, Dairy, Pharma, IT, Computer and Communications, Dr Jitendra Singh gave full credit to the futuristic vision of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi who had given a call for “Startup India and StandUp India” from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence Day address of 2015. This initiated a mass interest, as a result of which the number of Startups in India has increased from mere 350 in 2014 to over 75,000 in 2022 with more than 100 unicorns, while India under Modi has achieved 3rd ranking in the world in the Startup ecosystem.
Dr Jitendra Singh took a dig at previous Governments for not taking initiative to give impetus to Startup movement during their time as the priority on the part of leadership at that time was lacking despite the fact that there was talent, capacity and capability among the youth but lack of political will.
The Union Minister said it was the Narendra Modi which opened the gauntlet and revolutionised the Startup Movement in India by exploiting the capability and capacity of Indian youth to make the country self reliant.
Dr Jitendra Singh, while giving full credit to PM Modi for a revolutionary change in the country said when American Astronaut Neil Armstrong went on the Moon and strolled there, he could not find water but it was India’s Chandrayaan which found water around the Moon and credit for this goes to Narendra Modi for his out of box thinking.
The Union Minister said “PM encouraged the scientists to go ahead. To built next generation, PM Modi unlocked the space technology and today we have 62 Statrtups in ISRO”.
He said India’s all Nuclear plants were established only in South and there was none in North India but again due credit goes to PM Modi that next year India is going to set up Nuclear Plant in Haryana.
He said likewise India has great resources in sea but it never utilised them. “We are from the country where Ocean is known as Indian Ocean which has huge resources. There are plenty of resources in the shape of living and non living things in Indian Ocean which are exclusive assets for the nation. Under Modi Government the nation has started a campaign to explore the resources and deposits there, he added.
He said, it is important to take note of some of the exemplary instances of many young entrepreneurs who are seen quitting their lucrative jobs in the MNCs to establish their own Startups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise the possibility of greater fortunes in this.
Dr Jitendra Singh pointed out that the Startup movement in Jammu and Kashmir has been relatively slow, even though the “Purple Revolution” of India was born in J&K and J&K is also the birthplace of the grand Aroma Mission. He hoped that its impact would be realised through the success stories of various Agri-based Startups, besides in the fields of Dairy and Pharma.
Dr Jitendra Singh underlined the contribution of cities like Bengaluru and Chennai for the Startup boom in India and said that the innovators, incubators, and entrepreneurs are making a global mark by focussing on areas like 5G, artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, Block chain, green energy and Space economy.
The different Ministries and departments headed by him, informed Dr Jitendra Singh, are providing attractive support by way of both financial assistance as well as technical hand-holding and facility to carry the Startup products to the market, which also holds a lucrative livelihood opportunity. But unfortunately, particularly in this region, many of the potential beneficiaries are not able to avail of it because the awareness is lacking although all information is available on websites and portals.
Dr Jitendra Singh regretted that even though StartUp is a very high priority for the Modi Government, it is not a priority for certain sections of the media. He urged upon the media persons to put out at least one Startup success story a week, to serve the cause of the youth.
Calling for promoting Agri-tech Startups in a big way, the Minister said, Agriculture is one of the important pillars of the Indian economy as 54 percent of the Indian population depends directly on agriculture and it accounts for around 20 percent of GDP. He said, the success story of CSIR promoted Aroma Mission of Lavender cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be replicated in other States.
The Minister pointed out that a new wave of Agri-tech Startups has emerged in the country in the last few years and these Startups are solving problems related to supply chain management, cooling and refrigeration, seed management and distribution, besides helping farmers to access a wider range of markets. He said, the young entrepreneurs are now quitting their jobs in the IT sector and MNCs to establish their own Startups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise that investing in agriculture is one of the very few safe and profitable businesses.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, ‘Kisan Drones’ could be adopted in a big way for promoting crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients and pointed out that countries like Israel, China and the US have transformed several agriculture practices in their country with the use of technology.
MP, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Director General CSIR, N Kalaiselvi, Commissioner Secretary, Science and Technology, Saurav Bhagat and other senior officers of CSIR including Director IIIM Jammu, Srinivas Reddy spoke on the occasion.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
