In his formal addresses to the academia at various conferences, convocations, seminars and conclaves, President Pranab Mukherjee has been laying stress on high level of education and research oriented to scientific and technological development of the country. Like most of the people imbued with deep sense of nationalism, he feels unhappy over the falling standards of education and various handicaps that do not let scientists and engineers take innovative steps and address technological requirements of society especially the rural society. It hardly needs to be emphasized that without scientific and technological advancement, no economic development can be achieved and made viable.
Addressing the three-day-long 28th Indian Engineering Congress at Chennai, the President warned that presence of natural resources was not a guarantee for the development of the country unless the resources are explored and exploited for the benefit of the people, particularly those who need to be brought above poverty line. It is the technological prowess that has brought prosperity to the developed countries of the world. Therefore our engineers and scientists have to develop the faculty of innovative outlook and dovetail such technologies as would prove highly useful and productive when applied to our requirements. Over past six decades, by and large, the country has built the infrastructure for taking the next step of initiating innovative technologies. Now is the time that we address this need. There are countries in the world that are not gifted with natural resources expected to lead them to an era of economic prosperity. But they are gifted with human resource and through that instrument they have obtained technological prowess. Singapore and Japan are two examples. In some technologies Japan has not only excelled but even maintained its leading position. It is said that Japanese are the best in copying but their copy excels the original.
In our country we have a large network of technical and scientific institutes spread all over the country. The idea is to build a large pool of technocrats and scientists from all parts of the country including remote towns and cities. As a result we have vast technical manpower manning the engines of development. But the President’s suggestion that out of this pool, we shall have to build a corpus of excellence which has right motivation and persuasion to break the ground in developing such technologies as would go a long way in changing the face of rural India.
Speaking about world economic situation, the President said that we in India had the share of economic recession during past two years or more. From eight and a half per cent rate of development we sank down to just five per cent. Well that was a global phenomenon and India could not escape the impact of this recession. But the winds of change are blowing and it should not be difficult to put development back on its rails. There are some positive factors that infuse hope of our ability to recover from the downslide. Factors like continuing rise in per capita income, expanding middle-class consumers and a young and energetic workforce give us confidence that as the global economy revives, we will be able to secure a faster growth.
Emphasis has to be laid on suitable grassroots technologies. Our nation needs to imbibe technological culture with potential to transform into a productive and creative society. Technological institutions in India would do well to help create pool of technical savvy youth all over the country who, while depending on self employment, also contribute to the grassroots technologies within their spheres and fields of activity. Engineering education should not remain confined and accessible only to the accredited seekers. It should be brought to the public domain and those with inherent technological bent of mind should be able to find opportunity of demonstrating their technological prowess. In doing so, the country will gradually shift to technological culture.
We need to appreciate the progressive and visionary outlook of the president while thinking of a technically and scientifically developed India of years to come. His experience and wisdom, his vision and expectations are adequately reflected in his speeches given at various occasions. His message to the younger and proficient segment of society is indeed the roadmap for India of our dreams.
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