Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today urged universities and technical education institutes to carry out society-oriented research for economic growth of the country and to tackle the problem of unemployment.
"In order to tackle the problem of poverty and unemployment that the country is facing, knowledge must be turned into wealth," Gadkari said here.
"Universities should adopt a society-oriented approach while carrying out research," he said while speaking at the inauguration of an international conference on 'Opportunities and Challenges in Technical Education' organised by Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE).
On the issue of farmers' suicides, Gadkari, Union road transport and highways minister, suggested using agro waste to produce different things of utility.
"Apart from cultivating crops, farmers should also utilise agro-waste to produce things like ethanol so that their financial condition improves and they do not take extreme steps," he said.
He asked the educational institutions to help the farmers on this front.
Gadkari distributed ISTE's 'Vidyabhavan National Award' to Prof Ram Meghe Institute of Technology and Research.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairman Anil Sahastrabuddhe, Maharashtra minister Pravin Pote, MP Anand Adsul and others were present on the occasion.
Gadkari also inaugurated an exhibition.
Gadkari said these included Rs 2,087 crore project at
JNPT, Rs 1,633 crore project at Paradip, Rs 811 crore project at Mumbai, Rs 263 crore project at Kandla, Rs 3,500 crore project at Kolkata port and Rs 425 crore project at Ennore.
Besides, he said work on 15 projects worth Rs 6,700 crore would be started before March 31.
In addition, he said, 32 projects worth Rs 4,651 crore had been completed and resulted in augmenting ports capacity by 70 MTPA.
Another set of 46 projects worth Rs 28,040 crroe would result in augmenting the capacity of India's major ports by 360 MTPA, he said.
The minister said apart from converting 111 rivers across the country into waterways, the agenda including developing smart cities at major ports.
He said 1,620 Km stretch on Haldia-Varanasi on Ganga was being developed and tenders were out for projects worth Rs 4,000 crore.
"We will begin work before March 31 on these," he said and added that stress was being laid on movement of coal to 13 power projects.
Efforts are also on to reduce the turnaround time of the ships.
Also on the priority is development of coastal areas in 13 states which will benefit 10 lakh fishermen, he said adding, the government planned low cost housing and other initiatives for them.
Gadkari said development of shipping sector along with highways will contribute at least 2 per cent to India's GDP.
