The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari has said that we will need more, and better, innovations in order to remain competitive as we aspire for faster, sustainable and inclusive growth. He was addressing after inaugurating JSS Science and Technology University of JSS Mahavidyapeetha, in Mysuru today. The Governor of Karnataka, Shri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah, HH Jagadguru Shri Shivarathi Deshikendra Mahaswamiji and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The Vice President said that building of a science based, innovative and developed society requires development of a scientific temper in the general public, a focus on the study of the basic sciences for meeting our domestic requirements and a conducive environment where enquiry and evidence form the basis of rational choices.
The value of Scientific Temper as the basis of all social interaction was well understood in India and it was enshrined in our Constitution under Article 51A (h), he added. The Vice President said that it is important for India to be a science innovation hub to achieve technological self-sufficiency, and devise local solutions to our numerous problems like poverty, agricultural productivity, water conservation and climate change. We cannot hope to be a great power without a qualitatively superior scientific and technological prowess, he added. The Vice President said that an environment conducive to dissent and critical thinking -challenging established knowledge and dogmas - is required to pursue bigger questions in science and encourage innovation. Criticism is the basis of all advancement in sciences and this approach precludes imposition of any ideology, he added.