Telecom inventor and entrepreneur Sam Pitroda said the Centre does not have the “brain power” to understand that innovation is vital to create jobs, PTI reported on Wednesday.

Pitroda, who delivered a lecture at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ahmedabad, said innovation was needed in the government, judiciary, education, healthcare and various other fields. But in India, people always debate about the Ram Temple in Ayodhya or history.

“Everyone talks about the past, we just love to latch on to the past...We just need to move on,” Pitroda said.

He also said he was disappointed that the Centre had shut down the National Innovation Council. “The National Innovation Council was a great step by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” he said, adding that the current government shut it down even though he had urged against the move. “I was very disappointed because we need innovation to create more jobs.”

Pitroda, often credited for India’s telecom revolution, said India will not succeed by holding rallies, and the country was not inventing fast enough. “The government has no idea about it...They don’t have the brain power to understand this situation,” he said.