New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) 

Contending that innovation is the only way to sustain India’s growth, the National Innovation Foundation says the government is not doing enough to promote innovations in local creativity, especially in underdeveloped areas."We have realized a considerable degree of neglect and indifference by the state as well as market forces for unleashing the local creativity and innovation. Generally, the state''s response has been lukewarm towards supporting local initiatives in underdeveloped areas like Champaran, Bastar, Cherrapunji and Arku Valley," says Prof Anil Gupta, Vice Chairman, National Innovation Foundation (NIF).

"In some of the regions, the police, untrained as it is, to deal with civil society and its heterogeneity, paint the local communities with the same colour. The articulate local youth is seldom allowed to take leadership against the apathy and indifference of the institutions. By victimizing them, some are pushed into insurgency and some either migrate out or become quiet," he says.NIF was established in 2000 by the Department of Science and Technology with the main goal of providing institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots innovations and helping their transition to self-supporting activities.

"We have a culture that dubs innovation as craziness, but our success will be in identifying as many crazy people as we can so that this revolution can spread across India," says Gupta.He sees the relationship between innovation and the present educational system in India as counterproductive, one which reinforces conformity and compliance at all levels."When students come out with creative ideas, most teachers and even parents discourage lateral or tangential thinking. If you look at the text books in schools or colleges, you will rarely find any reference to contemporary innovations in formal or informal sector. The question of inviting innovators to the class does not arise," he says."Without dissent and diversity, how can creativity and innovation blossom. Therefore, it is very important to change the mindset of bureaucracy and political leadership towards such areas," he adds. From a scooter-powered flour mill, low-cost solution for sewage treatment, amphibious cycle to a clay fridge that need no electricity, NIF has more than 140,000 ideas, innovations and traditional knowledge practices from school or college dropouts and some even from arts graduates. Barring a few thousand ideas from children in cities as well, most ideas are from rural areas. .