Prez launches 'IMPRINT India' to counter country's challenges

President Pranab Mukherjee today launched 'IMPRINT India', a joint initiative of country's top educational institutes, aimed at developing a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges relevant to India today.

The initiative is based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion that research done by institutions of national importance must be linked with immediate requirements of the society at large.

The President said it is necessary to develop in our students a scientific temper, which allows the flight of imagination beyond the realm of grades and classrooms.

"Promotion of research at the under-graduate level would assist such an objective. The link between progress and innovation is direct. History is witness to many nations low on resources emerging as advanced economies only on the strength of rapid technological development," Mukherjee said while launching the project during Visitors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

The objectives of this initiative is to identify areas of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation, direct scientific research into identified areas, ensure higher funding support for research into these areas and measure outcomes of the research effort with reference to impact on the standard of living in the rural and urban areas, a press release by the President's office said.

The idea of launching IMPRINT India, which is now a joint project of IITs and IISc, originated during the conference of Chairmen, Board of Governors and Directors of Indian Institutes of Technology convened by the President in August last year.

IMPRINT India will focus on 10 themes, with each to be coordinated by one IIT or IISc, including Health Care (IIT Kharagpur), Computer Science and ICT (IIT Kharagpur), Water Resources and River systems (IIT Kanpur), Defence and Manufacturing (IIT Madras), among others.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said the outcomes of the previous conferences have given us the confidence that the institutes of higher learning, if they come together, can make a difference in a short span of time to higher education sector in our country.

He called upon the academic leaders of institutes in social sector and humanities' domain to formulate a similar joint initiative like IMPRINT India for conducting research on themes of relevance to public policy-making.