He was speaking on the occasion of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards ceremony held by held by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

India was a country of 1.2 billion constructive minds and it was duty of each one of us to make efforts to solve the problems of the society and the nation to take it forward on the path of progress through their entrepreneurship and innovation.

The President called upon the faculty, students, and alumni of IIM-Ahmedabad to continue to engage with creative minds from industry, business, entrepreneurs, society leaders and with those who work at the grassroots. "The Institute must continue to address the pressing issues confronting today's society".

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday stressed on the need of innovation and said that it would help achieve the "Start-up India; Stand-up India" mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that together, the National Innovation Foundation and IIM-Ahmedabad, had given a global identity to the Indian model of social innovation.

He said, "It (IIMA) must strive to be a beacon of knowledge, nurture other institutions with generous mentorship, and maintain a culture that blends the drive for excellence and performance with the spirit of collaboration and compassion..."

Director of IIM-A, Ashish Nanda, said the idea of IIM is education and innovation.Nanda, while recalling his two visits to Rashtrapati Bhavan, praised the President saying, "He is really an education President". For this to happen, I have been encouraging the institutes of higher learning to collaborate with the institutes and industry within India and overseas for creating a conducive ecosystem for nurturing innovation and research. These children have proved that innovative spirits can dispel any amount of inertia and replace it with exciting new possibilities.

"I become very optimistic about our future when I see the younger generation which does not want to live indefinitely with unsolved prob lems". Innovations from creative youngsters are the best examples of "Samvedna se srijansheelta" (innovation from compassion or empathy).