Amit Shah calls for separate NID vertical to link designers with opportunities

Gandhinagar: Inaugurating the National Institute of Design-Gandhinagar’s Incubation and Innovation Centre on Sunday, Union home minister Amit Shah pitched for creating a separate vertical at NID to connect designers with commercial opportunities. He drew parallels with the transformation brought about in cricket by the IPL.

Shah said India can fully utilize its design potential only when design is widely accepted as a viable career option. “You have done an excellent job in establishing the incubation and innovation centre. But those who choose this field as a career must be connected with industry requirements and financial opportunities. I think this can only happen if you create a separate vertical for it, because the people here are designers and not experts in commercialization. NID will have to bring these two together,” Shah said.

Drawing a comparison with cricket, he said earlier generations did not consider the sport a career due to limited earnings. Recalling his interaction with cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar, Shah said players once received very little remuneration for Tests, which discouraged families from allowing children to pursue the sport professionally. “After the Indian Premier League (IPL), parents now tell children to play cricket because they can build a future from it. In the same way, the commercial potential of design has to be fully explored,” he said.

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, meanwhile, said on Sunday that design, innovation, research and entrepreneurship will form the foundation of a developed India. “We discussed how our creative ecosystem and individuals associated with the world of design can be properly valued and effectively utilized within the industry, ensuring they receive fair remuneration and earn a good livelihood. NID should be expanded across the entire country,” the minister said.