PM Modi pitches for 'participative governance'

New Delhi [India], Mar. 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stressed on the importance of participative governance.

Addressing the Grand finale of Smart India Hackathon-2018 through video-conferencing in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi said, "I am happy to see young minds thinking about ways to take our nation forward. It is a delight to be among smart innovators of smart India. Nobody is blessed with all the knowledge in the world. This applies to Governments too. The biggest mistake governments make is to think they alone can bring about change. What brings about change is participative governance."

The Prime Minister laid emphasis on innovation and gave the mantra of IPPP i.e. Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper.

"Innovation has the power to overcome the challenges our world faces. The innovation quotient of nations will determine their progress. Innovation is not restricted to events or occasions. It is a continuous process," he said.

"These four steps will lead our country towards faster development, for that we will have to innovate and turn our innovations in patents, making our production smoother and taking products speedily to the people will make them prosper. But we must look for 'need-based innovations' not greed based innovations," the Prime Minister added.

Further, he pointed out the need to think outside of the box to solve problems.

He urged the students to not shy away from questioning. The Prime Minister said, "The government wants to give more autonomy to the higher education sector and work is being done to create institutions of eminence in the country."

"The biggest assets of any nation are 'Shram Shakti' (labour) and 'Iccha Shakti' (resolve). Once the people decide to bring about change, everything is possible," he added.

The Prime Minister said that he was happy to know that over half the projects selected during last year's Hackathon were completed and more were nearing completion.

Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister added, "After the Second World War, the nations that emphasised on higher education witnessed greater prosperity. We want to give more autonomy to our higher education sector. Efforts are on to create institutions of eminence."

The Prime Minister was interacting with students from Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar via video-conferencing. Youngsters also shared their views on ways to improve road connectivity especially in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand.

The Second Edition of Smart India Hackathon began on Friday at 28 centres across the country. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI