National innovation clubs meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan

A meeting of National Innovation Clubs of various universities, IITs and NITs took place for the first time at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. The Innovation Clubs shared their achievements and ideas to promote innovations within their campus and outside.

More than 100 participants took part in the meeting.

Secretary to the President Omita Paul stated that one creative mind can unleash a flood of creativity and prosperity. She believed that the youth will rise to the occasion and take up the responsibility of bringing about change and extending the frontiers of knowledge in order to build an inclusive society.

She further added that the endeavour to set up Innovation Clubs was held in effort to help not only to bring out the needs of the local areas but the solutions to those problems as well.

At the meeting, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus addressed the gathering and shared his experiences regarding Grameen Bank. There were presentations by Innovation Clubs of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow; IISER, Mohali; IIT Indore; NIT Silchar; and Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha. Talks regarding future roadmap for development by IIT Delhi director R.K. Shevgaonkar and NIT Delhi director Ajay Sharma were also held.

The President Pranab Mukherjee had exhorted the academia to set up National Innovation Clubs in Central Universities and Institutions of Higher learning via IITs, NITs and IISERs.

The clubs which have been set up, aim to promote inclusive innovations by linking the creativity in the formal and informal sectors. Primarily, the clubs aim at four functions i.e search creativity and innovations, spread information about useful innovations, sense the unmet needs and celebrate the spirit of creativity.

Faculty, staff and students are voluntarily expected to join hands with the innovators at different levels and in different sectors to ensure widest application for creative and innovative ideas.