Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with PM Modi address Directors at IIT via Video Conferencing

PM Modi to Address IIT Directors Today: Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan conducted a virtual meeting with the directors of the Centrally Funded Technical Institutions including Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, and Indian Institute of Science Bangalore.

According to media reports, the PM has appreciated the young innovators for providing quick technological solutions. The PM further mentioned that progress is needed towards education models that are flexible, seamless and able to provide learning opportunities as required by learners. He also mentioned that the technological and R&D institutions will play a major role in the upcoming decade, 'India's Techade' making the country a hub for R&D, innovation, and popularising science among the youth.

The Union Education Minister was sworn in along with the new Minister of State for Education Annpurna Devi, Subhas Sarkar, and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. The Union minister has been assigned the Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship sections after the reshuffling of the cabinet.

PM Modi’s address to the Directors of various IITs comes a day after the mega cabinet expansion which saw induction of several new faces to his team. As part of the cabinet reshuffle, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, who earlier held the portfolio for Petroleum Ministry has been named as the New Education Minister.

Earlier, while addressing the 66th convocation ceremony of IIT Kharagpur in February, he had called upon engineers to step-up and be part of India’s growth journey to take the country ahead. During his convocation address, PM Modi had asked outgoing students to “recognise their potential and move forward with confidence by following the mantras of self-confidence, self-awareness and selflessness.” Furthermore, terming IITs as 'institute of indigenous technology', Prime Minister had asked students to transform their potentials from identifying patterns to converting them into patents and intellectual property for the country.

During the Convocation Address to IIT Kharagpur students, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said that failures are stepping stones of life and they shouldn’t be frowned upon. Instead, he asked students to use failures as a tool to learn from their mistakes and innovate to overcome these challenges. He also added that “A technological failure always leads to new innovation.”