Do 'Jugaad' for innovation, says KTR to JNTU students

HYDERABAD: Defining 'Jugaad' as a channel for innovation, Telangana's IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao urged the youths to think big and work hard to contribute to the nation's growth.

Speaking at the inaugural of International Conference on Innovation in Engineering and Technology in JNTU on Thursday, KTR said that even the State Government adopted jugaad in order to find innovative solutions to real world problems. "When you are travelling and stopped by a policeman, you are asked for licence, RC and vehicle papers, which you might not carry at all times. To address this, a Hyderabad-based startup came up with the M-Wallet app, which is accepted by the police and all your documents are in your mobile. During COVID, when the roads were empty, we took that as an opportunity and renovated roads, that was also jugaad. It is nothing but opting for the simplest method to solve problems."

KTR said that if a country needed to be developed, there were three important things which needed to be focused on. "At a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I said that if India needs to change, we have to adopt the 3-I mantra – Innovation, Infrastructure and Inclusive growth."

He told the students of JNTU and everyone, to not think of innovation as something confined to just tech or engineering or something that was confined. He said that it could be anything that would provide solutions to small problems in society. "Uber also was ideated when the founder and his friend were outside till 2 am and they did not find taxis to go back home, so look around for opportunities for innovation. Small things are what we need to grow big."

While talking about the second 'I'-- Infrastructure, KTR said that it not only means buildings or roads. It included everything from electricity to water resources to social and physical resources. Telangana was the only State in India to provide electricity, drinking water and Irrigation water and this was possible because we understood the supply and demand of the resources and mapped out a way to distribute the resources, he said.

"Inclusive growth means to understand that talent or knowledge is not confined to an individual or a specific community. Anybody could have talent or gain knowledge. It is important to give people the right opportunities. That's how a nation would grow. Even youths can do it – by opting to innovate, by aiming at becoming a job creator rather than a job seeker. We aim at being an enabling government and are continuously looking at policies to make Telangana a better place for youths like you," KTR said.