BENGALURU: Free power and loan waiver is not the solution, said Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday. He was speaking at the valedictory of the 107th Indian Science Congress, held here. He proposed an idea of self sufficiency in agriculture and related products.
Naidu urged the science community to pay attention to the problems of farmers and find long-term solutions for them. Naidu said that scientific research should focus on making advanced machinery for agricultural activities, from spraying to post-harvest handling of produce.
“With 50 per cent of the Indians being under 25 years of age and 65 per cent below 35 years of age, we want to be part of the the counrties development, while 20 per cent of the mass is below the poverty line. There are areas that are problematic – social discrimination poverty malnutrition and gender discrimination,” he said.
Naidu encouraged senior scientists to guide the budding ones to come up with innovations. Rajendra Prasad, vice-chancellor, UAS, and K S Rangappa, General President, Indian Science Congress passed on the vigyan jyot – a torch of fire – to Prof Vijay Laxmi Saxena, who got elected as the general president for Indian Science Congress Association 2021