IIT Alumni Day
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 29 : Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today said, Technocrats can add value to Civil Services delivery.
Educational background of technocrats and their expertise can help optimally accomplish many a Flagship Programmes initiated by the Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly because most of these are technology driven like SVAMITVA, Gati Shakti, DBT, Face Recognition Technology for DLC etc, he said.
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, was addressing the IIT Delhi Alumni Public Service Day function.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is now steering the world in innovative technologies. We are on course to our target on reducing Greenhouse gases emission and achieve Net Zero by 2070.
India is today one of the leading users of non-conventional energy including electric automobiles, wind & solar energy and the world’s first Hydrogen powered bus has been made in India, said the Minister. The world is looking up to us for leads.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, we are today among the world’s top five economies and India has jumped from 81st to 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index, 2022. During the Covid pandemic, India not only saved its own population but also helped the world by providing vaccines and we also delivered the world’s first DNA vaccine.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, our Chandrayaan Mission was the first to discover evidence of water on the Moon and the Aditya-L1 solar mission is led by a woman Director. PM Modi has provided an enabling milieu to India’s endeavours in Space research, and S&T. PM Modi has emerged the tallest leader in the world after the G20 Summit.
“Today the world is ready to be led by India. The declaration of International Yoga Day and International Year of Millets by the UN is proof of our rising stature. Now is the time for all of us Indians to rise to the occasion and seize the opportunity, ” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the role of IIT Engineers is both active and passive in today’s times, active as they are looked up by the society as highly qualified and expert brains, tech savvy whereas the IITians also being members of the same society, they have a responsibility to motivate the society they live in and are a part of, without intimidation. The youth today are not only seeking jobs but acting as job providers by turning entrepreneurs with their own Startups.
“Today there are over 3,000 Agritech Startups and are very successful in areas like Aroma Mission and Lavender cultivation, quite a few of them do not have high qualifications, but are very innovative,” he said.
The National Education Policy, NEP-2020 addresses such issues and has liberated the students from being “prisoners of their aspirations”, he said, adding that the age of working in silos is over.
Dr Jitendra Singh called for wider synergy among all streams of profession for achieving the “Amrit Kaal” goals over the next 25 years. He said the dictum is the whole of science plus the whole of Government plus the whole of the nation.