GUNTUR: Niti Ayog member and Padmabhushan awardee Dr V.K. Saraswat asserted the need of using science and technology for progress in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors which would improve the livelihood of people. He inaugurated a two-day Tech Fest at SRM University in Amaravati on Wednesday. Addressing the students, he lamented that ‘though India has achieved a lot of development in the fields of science and technology, poverty is yet to be overcome.” He sought students to conduct scientific researches for the improvement of people’s living condition.
Dr Saraswat said that though our growth in the service sectors is at 62 pc, that in the manufacturing sectors remains at 15-16 pc and that in the agriculture sector stands at 14-15 pc. He said that this trend should be changed by improving growth in both manufacturing and agriculture sector to achieve an improvement in the growth from 7.4% to 10%.
Dr Saraswat said that AP has people with high educational qualifications people with such knowledge can be utilised for the development. Dr M. Nageswara Rao, director, Isro Communications Centre, explained on the success of Isro in the last 60 years and their future plans. He said Isro is now concentrating more on launching communication satellites to improve the communication system in the country. He said that even the remote areas have to be brought under advanced communication networks without any interruptions. He said that the vision of Isro is to create ‘Digital India’ by launching more satellites for better communication.
Dr P. Satyanarayanan, president, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh and Dr D. Narayana Rao, Pro- Vice Chancellor and others addressed the students, exhorted them to become entrepreneurs.