Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said there was a need for tribal, rural and agriculture-centric research and innovation so that villages in the country prosper.
He was addressing the second convocation ceremony of the Mahatma Gandhi Mission University in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
"We are the largest growing economy. Our prime minister dreams of making our country a USD 5 trillion economy. For this, we need tribal, rural and agriculture-centric research and innovation. Earlier, 90 per cent of the country's population lived in villages and now the number has come down to 65 per cent. People have not migrated happily, but because of the problems in villages," the road transport and highways minister said.
"Today, we have cotton that is cheap, but clothes are costly. We have cheaper oranges and tomatoes, but their juices are costly. We need to bring prosperity to the villages through the diversification of agriculture to the power and energy sector. Biomass will give ethanol and we can create bio-CNG and LNG with agricultural waste," he said.
Currently, the country is importing fossil fuels worth Rs 16 lakh crore. If farmers get involved in energy generation and are able to produce energy worth Rs 10 lakh crore, villages will prosper and people will return to villages, he added.
Appealing to students to not take shortcuts, Gadkari said, "Students sitting here should become job providers and not seekers. There is no age for learning. We should learn whatever we can from anyone. In many cases, people who didn't go to school are doing wonders."
During the event, the university honoured late poet Vamandada Kardak with D Litt posthumously for his work and writings for social equality. University Chancellor Ankushrao Kadam and Vice-Chancellor Vilas Sapkal, former education minister Kamalkishor Kadam were present on the occasion.
-With PTI Input
