Invest in Research at Universities to Foster Startup Culture, PM Modi Tells Governors

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said governors as chancellors of universities should ensure that institutions of higher learning invest in research that fosters start-up culture and leads to job creation.

The prime minister made these remarks at the concluding ceremony of the 50th annual conference of governors and lieutenant governors here.

Referring to the development of tribal areas, Modi pressed for an appropriate use of technology and adoption of progressive schemes in the sphere of sports and youth development.

He also pitched for a mission-mode focus to be given to meeting the development needs of 112 aspirational districts, particularly those falling in the tribal areas of the country, and to ensure that they come up above the state and national averages on the relevant development indices at the earliest.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said Modi told the gathering that the discussion on the Jal Jeevan Mission in the conference reflected the priority given by the government to water conservation and water management techniques that were tailored to local conditions.

In their role as chancellors of universities, the prime minister asked governors to inculcate the message of good habits of water conservation amongst students.

On the New Education Policy and the higher education sector, Modi highlighted the important role governors could play to ensure that universities invest in high-quality research.

He was of the view that research should harness cost effective innovations and technology that uses platforms like hackathons to foster a start-up culture and lead to job creation.

Referring to the ease of living initiative, the prime minister observed that state institutions need to strike the right balance between cutting red-tape and too much regulations on one hand and at the same time ensure that the primary needs related to basic sectors such as health care and education were met in an affordable manner.

On agriculture, the prime minister advocated for a focus on development of agrarian economy by following a cluster approach that offered nuanced solutions.

He suggested that the governors could help to ensure adoption of international best practices through introduction of viable demonstration projects where agriculture universities played a lead role, the statement said.