Union Minister Jitendra Singh declared on Sunday that the Narendra Modi administration is recognizing grassroots innovators for the first time in India and that inventions that start in isolated communities would be expanded to provide equal chances and resources.
The National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an independent organization within the Center’s Department of Science and Technology, was celebrating its silver jubilee when the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology spoke.”Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to ‘Virasat Bhi aur Vikas Bhi’ integrates India’s exclusive traditional knowledge with cutting-edge technology,” said Singh, who also released a postal stamp, a magazine titled ‘Innovation frontline’ and a coffee table book on the occasion.
“Innovations originating in remote villages will be scaled up, ensuring equal opportunities and resources as available in urban areas,” an official release quoted Singh as saying.In addition to praising India’s transition from the “Fragile Five” to the “First Five,” he advocated for a scientific approach to using understudied sectors—including those in rural areas—that were disregarded by earlier governments. During last week’s “Mann Ki Baat,” Singh remembered PM Modi’s clarion call to mark National Science Day with a fervent celebration, adding that “it was unprecedented for a Prime Minister to extend such patronage to science and technology”.
After talking to Padma winners who encouraged innovation, Singh expressed his happiness and asked why it took so long to recognize these hidden heroes, many of whom started their efforts as early as the 1990s. “He credited PM Modi with turning the Padma Awards into a true ‘People’s Padma,'” the announcement said.
Singh referred to as a new initiative the Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF), a groundbreaking program between NIF and SIDBI that has supplied 238 innovation-based entrepreneurial enterprises with the risk funding they require. Citing the success of the Lavender Revolution, supported by CSIR-IIIM Jammu, and the Floriculture Revolution, supported by CSIR-IHBT Palampur, he dispelled the misconception that only top scientists with fancy degrees can spur innovation and entrepreneurship.
“India’s technology is inherently affordable and cost-effective, making it globally appealing,” he added. He revealed that 713 patents had been awarded in India and five in the United States, highlighting NIF’s role in supporting grassroots ideas. Throughout its 25-year history, NIF has successfully identified, supported, and disseminated grassroots inventions that have reached even the most distant border communities, therefore influencing India’s innovation landscape. He characterized this journey as a monument to inclusion.
“NIF was one of the early institutions in India to host a Technology Business Incubator (TBI), now known as NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council (NIFientreC). More than 25 grassroots startups and several hundred enterprises, some with Rs 10 crore annual turnover, are thriving under its support, creating rural employment opportunities,” he said.
The finest moment to innovate and conduct research in India is now, Singh said, with science and technology flourishing under PM Modi’s leadership. He called for innovators to help make the country ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat
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