BENGALURU: Free power and loan waiver is not the solution, said 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 scientific community to pay the attention to farmers problems and find long-term solutions and said scientific research should also focus on making advanced machinery for a variety of agricultural activities from spraying to post-harvest handling of produce.
We must make the world safer, a safer and more sustainable planet, he added.
Our ancient culture tradition heritage tells us Vaisudaiva Kutmbakam, the entire world is one family. Sarvejana Sukhinobhavamtu, share and care is the core of Indian ethos, he said.
With the demographic dividend of 50 percent of the people under 25 years of age and 65 percent below the age of 35 years of age and are aspirational and want to be part of the development story. Yet we have 20 per cent of people under the poverty line and an equal percentage illiterate.
There are areas that are problematic -- social discrimination poverty malnutrition and gender discrimination he said, adding he was glad that the Indian Science Congress elected a woman as a chairperson for the next edition.
Naidu also encouraged the senior scientists to guide budding scientists to come up with innovation.
Rajendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor, UAS; K.S. Rangappa, General President, Indian Science Congress passed on the Vigyan Jyoti, a torch of fire, to prof Vija Laxmi Saxena, General president-elect 2021 Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata.