Kalam emphasises on need for innovators in rural areas

Updated on: Monday, December 20, 2010

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam stressed on the need for mobilising innovators in rural areas to create a knowledge map of the best practices that are available in different sectors at village-levels.

"Deploying the youth of the region in mapping the knowledge and experience will provide us a rich resource of existing knowledge which can be used by many people. These rural personnel will definitely become knowledge multipliers and make a difference to the villages they live," he said.

Kalam was speaking on 'Human empowerment through knowledge and skills' after inaugurating an International Working Conference on 'Life Skills and Livelihood Skills-Challenges for Institutional Development' at the National Academy of Construction here.

Citing some examples on 'Development through Entrepreneurship', Kalam said, "I am sure each of the 600,000 villages in the country will have a number of good practises in agriculture, forestry, medicinal plants, traditional knowledge in medicine and handicrafts, textiles, and many other areas depending upon the bio-diversity and core competence of the particular region."

"Grassroot innovators and traditional knowledge personnel have the capability to find creative solutions to societal problems based on their experience and on necessity. I feel that our engineering, management and financial institutions have to partner them to bring the innovation as a product in a time frame manner," the former President stressed.

Recalling the story of Nandan, now an Assistant Professor, who was his driver three decades ago, Kalam said, "Nandan, who was inter-failed, first cleared his inter exams (12th class) and went on to complete his PhD and is now an Assistant Professor."

"We need to encourage such people to acquire knowledge," said Kalam, who had encouraged his driver to become an Assistant Professor.

"This is the satisfaction I have got," he said.

Kalam said everybody has time to learn and to acquire knowledge, expertise and skills and added, "If anybody says he/she doesn't have time, I don't believe it because time is available for everyone including the Prime Minister and President."

He further said there was a need for making workers in different sectors aware of their genuine rights and knowledgeable about many social schemes like employment schemes, training schemes, labour laws and insurance schemes.

Kalam emphasises on need for innovators in rural areas

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