Bareilly: Research and innovation by universities should be guided by the needs of society so that it can help solve problems of women, farmers and other needy sections, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel said on Monday.

She was addressing the 11th convocation ceremony of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly.

“Under the new education policy, universities should assess the skills of their students, identify the issues faced by various sections of society that they can address, and determine how their knowledge can be beneficial to society,” Patel said.

“Where do we stand? What are our weaknesses and strengths? What are the needs and challenges? Unless we keep these factors in mind, no one will benefit from our efforts.

“We have 200 acres of land, and we should actively engage with the community. We must make efforts to ensure that students from nearby villages have the opportunity to attend the university, as this has been our goal,” she added.

The governor said that she herself has been associated with both agriculture and animal husbandry and her experience shows that “unless we sit with women and farmers and understand their real needs and problems, meaningful solutions for them are not possible”.

Sharing her experience of Gujarat, the former chief minister said that in 2003, a campaign was started to connect scientists directly with farmers under the ‘Lab to Land’ initiative in the western state.

All the ministers, MLAs and public representatives also participated in this campaign and “through a Rath Yatra, they went from village to village and communicated with the farmers”, she said.

As a result of those meetings and conversations, positive changes were possible in the villages, the governor said

Patel emphasised that universities should also make efforts to ensure that ruralsociety can directly benefit from their research and knowledge.