Grassroot innovators should benefit the country

Hyderabad, Oct 20 (UNI) Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today said rural folk should benefit the country by innovating technologies in both farm and non-farm sectors and usher in social transformation.

Speaking after inaugurating the National Consultation on Technology Bank at the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) here, he said innovations should come from various grassroots innovators.

He said rural people had the capacity to find creative solutions to their problems but they need institutional support. Transferring knowledge from the laboratory to the farm or non-farm sector was possible with the cooperation of the institutions working in the field.

Dr Kalam suggested that NIRD should collaborate with the National Innovation Foundation, which was doing a good work, to undertake a nationwide survey to identify the technologies for the benefit of the rural people.

He said around 6,000 villages in the country would have various technologies in the areas like agriculture, rural industries and health. Local youth could be engaged for mapping such innovations.

He said the formula for development of the country was GDP growth plus better quality of life, including right food, shelter and productive employment.

The mission of India was to achieve prosperity and bring smiles on the faces of the rural people, he said adding the innovators, technology providers and institutions working in the field could be the prosperity generators of the country.

NIRD Director General B K Sinha said the Technology Bank was being viewed as a virtual proposition.

It proposed to use all instruments available -- a national portal, existing communication highways, the vast network of training and educational institutions, the Panchayati Raj institutions, he added.

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