KOHAT, April 25: Provincial Minister for Science and Technology Hussain Ahmed Kanju has urged scientists to focus on inventions in the field of health and information rather than on theoretical research.

The minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of a workshop on future sciences at the Kohat University of Science and Technology on Monday.

“The Muslim world today is totally dependent on the West in every sphere of life, be it agriculture, medicine or IT. This has happened because researchers have shown lack of understanding about future needs,” he said.

“Illiteracy has paralysed growth and development and societies have been plagued with crime, drugs, poverty and extreme religious and sectarian attitudes,” he added.

The minister said it was the principal duty of educationists and scientists to change the present pessimistic trends prevailing in society and invent products and processes which “could enable us to achieve the goal of sustainable development and make the country economically strong and self-reliant in a practical manner”.

He said that it was unfortunate that the Muslims, whose first lesson from God Almighty was to study, had forgotten their prime responsibility.