The 26th National Children’s Science Congress 2018 was held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday where Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had an hour-long interaction with the children.
He stressed that India, being the world’s third largest consumer of energy, spends huge money to pay its energy import bills, so he asked the children to find alternatives to fossil fuel and hydrocarbon.
“India does not have much fossil fuel but has coal deposits which could be used to generate power. Coal, at the same time, is the cause of much pollution which impacts the environment,” he said asking the delegates to find the way.
As he asked the children to find solutions he addressed that if the country did not have to pay the import bills, the resources could have been utilized somewhere else for the benefit of the country.
In regard to the innovative ideas, he added: “my generation is waiting for you to come up with innovative ideas(to find solutions).”
He also stressed on to the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum at Dehradun who had recently developed jet fuel from waste which could be successfully used to fly an aircraft from Dehradun to Delhi. He looks forward to the children holding the key to the future.to find the solutions to the country’s various energy needs.Mr. Pradhan said that the country’s energy consumption is expected to rise further in the future.
He urged the students to think about the fallout of climate change which will lead to submergence of several island countries.
The Minister also recalled India’s situation in the past when food security was a huge problem, and the Agri-scientists turned the country into a food exporter and the problem was solved.
He referred to the employment scenario and told that around 2.4 crore children turn 15 every year, which among half of them go to school and the rest seek employment or remain jobless.
“We don’t have any idea as to what kind of jobs they would be,” Pradhan, who is also the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship minister said adding “I don’t know the future of job scenario.