BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday exhorted students of SOA University to concentrate more on agriculture as the sector has the potential to solve the twin problems of poverty and unemployment.
Addressing the 6th convocation of Siksha O Anusndhan (Deemed to be University), Gadkari said the country is facing the twin problems despite having a strong economy.
“Now the country is facing the problem of poverty and unemployment. Our country is economically strong. What we need is an innovative and appropriate policy. I earnestly request you to concentrate more on agriculture,” he said.
He urged the students to concentrate more on rural, tribal and agriculture sectors.
Emphasising on knowledge and research-backed by technology, Gadkari said conversion of knowledge into wealth is the future.
Resources are important so also technology for the growth of economy. But the most important thing is appropriate knowledge with character to bring qualitative changes in the life of the people.
“I always talk about two important philosophies. One is conversion of waste into wealth and the other is conversion of knowledge into wealth,” he added.
Citing an example, Gadkari said, “The city I belong to, Nagpur, is selling treated sewage water to Maharashtra Government for power generation. The corporation is earning royalty to the tune of `300 crore.”
Lauding SOA for its focus on research, he said the Deemed to be University had contributed greatly in the field of higher education. “SOA is not only recognised today at the national level but also on the international platform,” he said referring to the university being ranked globally recently.
Governor Ganeshi Lal said technology and innovation, though required, were not enough as one needed to have a peep into theology. “God created man in his own image. The need is to accept and love everyone as pluralism and diversity are in our genes,” he said.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said SOA University, though young, had already made a mark in the field of higher education and research. “The university should come up with new ideas and compel the policymakers to accept it,” he said.
SOA Chancellor Khageswar Pradhan presided over the function while Vice-Chancellor Amit Banerjee presented the report. Honoris Causa (Doctor of Science) was presented to Prof Debiprasad Duari, a distinguished scientist in the domain of astronomy and astrophysics, who is presently the Director of the Birla Planetarium at Kolkata.