To impart quality and bring innovation in higher education, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has launched the Innovation Cell and Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) on Thursday at AICTE, New Delhi.
Addressing the gathering at the launch, Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar said, “We must create innovation culture in India and for the same we are encouraging Higher Educational Institutions to create innovation club in their campuses.”
He also said, “Without innovation no country can achieve sustainable development and prosperity.”
Innovation cell is an initiative of the MHRD and has been established within the premises of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) office at New Delhi. The purpose of the cell is to foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country.
The primary mandate of Innovation Cell is to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years fostered through Network of Innovation clubs in Higher Educational Institutions.
The Union Minister also said, “21st century is century of Innovation, and the Prime Minister of India has called the decade 2010-20 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’, to unleash the creative potential of every Indian. India has already been improving on global stage in terms of Innovation ranking from 86th place, 5 years ago, to 57th place this year.”
“If we want to deliver justice to the poor and make them prosper we need to innovate, without which it is not possible. Our young population can be converted into an asset if we innovate and for this reason, innovation is most important,” Javadekar added.
The Union Minister of State for HRD Dr Satya Pal Singh was also present at the event. He said, “Innovation must become the part of our culture and it must not be limited only to engineering students, it must be open for other students as well. Innovation means original thinking and everyone can contribute their ideas to promote innovation.”
Higher Education Secretary-MHRD R Subrahmanyam, University Grants Commission Chairman D P Singh and Chairman AICTE Anil Sahasrabudhe were also present during the event.
