Covid huge opportunity of hope, change which can be tackled by science & tech: Amitabh Kant

COVID-19 has affected normal life and disrupted economic activities, but it is also a huge opportunity of hope, change and a promise of a better future which can be tackled by science and technology, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said. He also urged people to follow appropriate COVID-19 protocols and vaccinate.

"COVID-19 has destroyed normal life and disrupted economic activities, but it is also a huge opportunity of hope, change and a promise of a better future.

"This can only be tackled by science and technology which will be the key for the future, be it remote healthcare or telemedicine or quality healthcare for remote villages or online education or any other thing," a statement quoting Kant said on Thursday.


Kant was speaking online at the DST Golden Jubilee Discourse Series programme on the topic jointly organised by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication and Vigyan Prasar.

Kant added that scientific areas like genome sequencing are very important in the age of pandemic and will provide solutions to many problems, including COVID-19.

He said 5G technology will rapidly transform the world of technology and mobile technology for faster communication. Similarly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to boost India's growth, he addded.

Speaking at the event, Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST said COVID-19 mutations will keep on happening in the future, and they will keep on analysing mutations and impact on health with speed and scale.

"At the same time, we will be able to control the transmission of the virus only by not allowing transmission of the virus through following appropriate COVID-19 protocols," Sharma added.