Gangtok, Nov 11 (IANS): Science, technology and innovation are the key to progress and prosperity of India, President Pranab Mukherjee said here Monday.

"There is a need to make our children aware of the nexus between problems like unchecked population growth and energy crisis, depletion of natural resources and pollution of the environment," Mukherjee said inaugurating the 40th Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition on the occasion of national education day here.

The national education day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India.

Mukherjee said: "It is extremely important to inculcate the ethos of science and mathematics in the minds of young students, who are the future scientists and technologists of this nation".

The president called upon young participants to regard the five elements of life -- earth, water, energy, space and air as something which have been inherited and to be passed on to the next generation.

"We have no right to squander or pollute them because we do not own them," he added.

Innovation will be a determining factor for growth in the future, he said.