Noting that India needs innovation to meet requirements in critical areas like agriculture and health, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday pitched for creating new solutions to old problems to help make development process more inclusive.

“In the Indian context, innovation is especially critical, not only for growth and development, but, because, we have a huge reservoir of unmet needs in critical areas of economy such as health, education, energy, housing and agriculture,” he said.

Mukherjee observed that these needs have not been met through conventional approaches.

He was speaking at Rashtrapati Bhawan after receiving the ‘The report to the people, 2013’ of the National Innovation Council.

“Applying the lens of innovation to these critical-needs sectors can not only generate new solutions to solve old problems, but also enable the development process to become more inclusive by serving a large section of under-served populations at the bottom of economic pyramid,” he said.

The President pointed out that India’s biggest strength in the coming years is going to be its demographic dividend.

“More than fifty per cent of our population is under 25 years and soon one-fifth of the world’s working age population will be in our country.

Innovation is thus critical to address the needs of our younger generation in a sustainable manner and for creating new opportunities for them,” he said.

He said innovating in the areas of education, skill development and entrepreneurship can enable India’s youth to emerge as the work force not only for India, but also for the world, as working age populations decline globally.