Participants at IIT-K’s Youth20 deliberate on tech and future

Kanpur: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur reverberated with the enthusiasm of hundreds of youths who gathered for the Youth20 Consultation. Being organised under the G20 Presidency of India, the Consultation was hosted on Wednesday and Thursday (April 5 and 6) at IIT Kanpur.
Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Dr Raj Shekhar inaugurated the event and addressed the delegates and participants as the chief guest. More than 1,500 youth delegates from across India and abroad took part in the Y20 Consultation at IIT Kanpur.
Speaking at the event, Dr Raj Shekhar, Kanpur Divisional Commissioner said events like the Y20 Consultation are ground breaking, paving the way forward to showcase India as a self-reliant, sustainable, resilient haven that exports manpower, services and technology. It also helps to improve the talent of youth constituting 65% of the country’s population. He added that institutes like IIT-Kanpur are crucial for the growth of the nation by providing a conducinve environment.
IIT Kanpur director, Professor Abhay Karandikar, said, “India has now entered the next 25 years of ‘Amrit Kaal’ and has assumed the G20 presidency. During the last six decades, IIT Kanpur has been driving technology and innovation across domains, being at the forefront. We have a robust research and innovation ecosystem, and have incubated a large number of start-ups which are going to drive the future of work in an increasingly technology-driven world.”
“The deliberations on ‘Future of Health’, ‘Technologies for Sustainable Future’ and ‘Innovation in Future of Work’, hold greater perspectives for the future, and I hope that the ideas put forth by the young minds here will make a far-reaching impact at a global scale,”, said Karandikar.
The interactive deliberations during the Y20 Consultation at IIT-Kanpur stressed technologies for sustainable future, Industry 4.0, technologies which will affect the future of work, future of education as well as future of health.
Panels consisting of experts and entrepreneurs shed light on India’s journey in core domains of innovation and technology and how we can make an impact with collective measures, globally.
Among young entrepreneurs was Manas Seth from Kanpur who said innovations should be such that the people at large are benefited out of it. He also said that the new technology should be cost-effective and ready for use by the common people.
Rupal Srivastava, a student of DG College, represented NYKS (Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan) Kanpur Nagar in Youth20 consultation at IITKanpur. She also took part in the Question Hour conducted after the panel session and questioned the panelists at the mega event.
In all, 150 students from 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh were part of the event. Kanpur was represented by Rupal and Kritikesh.
Rupal said she had a wonderful experience at Youth20 consultation as she along with other students got a chance to interact with the international delegates and question them and seek their answers.
As host of the event, IIT Kanpur held a grand exhibition with more than 50 stalls displaying diverse technologies and innovations that can make an impact even at the grass roots level. The exhibition showcased a plethora of low-cost devices, innovations and technologies.
A cultural evening with Hindustani and Carnatic Classical Music brought Y20 Consultation to a close.