VP Dhankhar exhorts IIT Kanpur students to find solution for stubble burning

Kanpur, Dec 1: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday called on IIT Kanpur students to work on smart, solution-oriented, scalable, and sustainable innovations for development and to find a resolution for stubble burning.

The vice president was addressing the students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur on the topic 'role of innovation in the development of India', with Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, and the institute's Director Professor Manindra Agrawal also in attendance.

Dhankhar said various government schemes like the Atal Innovation Mission, Startup India, and Make in India have brought positive changes and are now bearing fruits.

He said a small example of it was in the mobile phone sector, where the number of manufacturers went from a handful to so many that India is now making phones not only for the country but for the world.

"Looking ahead, innovation must embody 4S and these principles are fundamental -- smart, solution-oriented, scalable, and sustainable. And these words mean a lot. Sustainable I say for a simple reason. Our planet is being threatened, and we don't have another planet to cohabit. So development has to be sustainable," the vice president said.

"Smart innovation like the revolutionary smartphone or India's UPI system should be simple, adaptable and transformational," he said, saying these measures have helped a hundred million farmers receive direct funds in their accounts.

"What the government does is different. Look at the recipient. Nobody expected. That deep technological penetration has brought about what? No leakage of funds, no middlemen, no corrupt elements, transparency and accountability, and more importantly expedition, fastest," Dhankhar said.

He said solution-orientated innovation requires understanding real-world problems across sectors from agriculture to healthcare.

"This demands, my young friends, stepping out of comfort zones and engaging with diverse stakeholders across India," he said.

He also appealed to IIT Kanpur to work for farmers and find a solution to the problem of stubble burning.

"I would greatly appreciate if IIT Kanpur could take the welfare of the farmer in mission mode and some of the problems are so obvious, parali burning. "Please scratch your minds, find a solution. Our farmer today is virtually stressed because the farmer has not enjoyed the benefits of innovation," he added.