Part 20 (1/2)
a country which is so poor ,they have been enabled to have worldcla.s.s knowledge.
Therefore ,even within the several constraints they face daily ,they should take it up as a challenge to make India a developed country. They will have to spearhead the movement by talking about what can be done, encouraging people that we can overcome the difficulties and offer help to industries ,government administrators and others that Indian science can help to smoothen the difficulties arising out of economic development .
Those who are specialists in the humanities should be the vehicle for communication to the people about the need to have a new vision and the ways of realizing it. We have got tremendous opportunities to do several actions. We do not say that largescale liberalization and empowerment have to be done in our academic system and national laboratories and wait for it to take place. Even when all of us have to keep pus.h.i.+ng for such liberalization and empowerment, we should also push a few projects.
There are a number of avenues available in the government system including the recently const.i.tuted Technology Development Board to promote commercializable technology development. We should sincerely hope that each scientific group picks one project on its own to realize the vision. To show immediate results to our industries and to local administrators, let them not wait for somebody to recognize a project from Delhi or elsewhere. Let these actions be taken. If the scientists feel confident that it will lead to very good results, there will often be success. Once there is a success with good economic and social impact, everyone will claim owners.h.i.+p of the project. Success has many parents!
THE GOVERNMENT'S ROLE There is a central government with many ministries and departments ,there are many state governments and there are many government agencies. In any modern country ,the government to be present to create enabling environment ,to ensure law and order ,and to conduct activities of public good. There is rightly a general feeling in the country that there is an over presence of the government. Also ,most government inst.i.tutions do not grow in actions they grow in size! They think that they rule and not serve. There are some exceptions too! But the government surely also has many officers who themselves feel bad about the situation. They feel that there are many constraints which are troubling 257.
them. We are addressing some of the individual perceptions in a later section on what we can do. But there is a need to treat the government as a whole. There is a need now to look at the country as a whole. Though in principle, the government is considered as one , in practice, there are many departments and divisions in the departments and there are a number of officers or staff. It is well known that there are turfs.
There are also a number of coordination mechanisms, but these are often used as instruments for delaying action. The Government also includes the political system. During the past fifty years India's development has greatly depended on the government. It was the strength of the country and also its weakness. Many initiatives were taken by the government. But the planned and regulated nature of the economy over a period has inhibited other from taking initiative .Therefore ,one important role for the government is to shed its presence and to empower various agencies within itself and also to empower private initiatives.
The government should also take care of activities of the public good like education and health. It should also no doubt create viable mechanisms for bringing up the weaker section. For all these, it has to enable conditions for faster growth which would mean a lot of private initiatives and even foreign investment . There are possibilities of raising a large amount of the private domestic investment in the country provided one is bold and, if necessary, unconventional. It is essential for government to do this . Let us not take a strong moralistic posture. Let the past mistake be redeemed as we act towards making the country a developed one, and the only one totally free of poverty.
In addition, we believe that many departments within the government have talent and capabilities. This is not only true technocrats, but also of administrators and other staff .We believe that each of departments should mount a major mission which will consist of a number of projects in a particular sector with which they are broadly concerned. If necessary they should work with multiple departments. Often this is more effective. Having worked within the government system for very long , we can also say that if top administrators have the will, and if four or five of them get together, the system are flexible enough that speedy decisions can be taken. We believe that 258.
one of the crucial motive factors in realizing the vision would depend upon how few government departments take the lead immediately to mount such a vision. We didn't have to teach them what such missions are. The blueprints are available in terms of Technology Vision 2020 doc.u.ment. They have the talents to mount such missions. They can generate more doc.u.ments, as necessary, but the actions are needed .These need to be done efficiently and the result should be visible immediately.
These should be the criteria. The reason for immediately visible result is to generate the confidence in people that we can do it. Then the movement will start after which people would be ready to wait for long term results.
Otherwise, a pervasive cynicism, now evident in the system, will continue.
NonGovernmental organizations(NGO ) s Under the category of NGOs come many important academic, educational and R&D organizations created under private auspices. There are social service organizations. There are activity groups that fight for certain type of rights in many areas. There are religious bodies which serve their communities there are some which serve all communities. Some NGOs target particular activities: bringing vision to the blind, for example. Many have contributed excellently primarily to higher education the mission schools and colleges, particularly in the rural and coastal areas for example. Some work with tribes. Some have particular environmental concern. Some NGOs are large some are tiny , one person operations others are registered and have ' government recognition' for tax benefits etc. Still other shun any organized inst.i.tutional framework. If we look at all of them, we can capture the spirit, the energy and the very texture of a resurgent India. We see some individuals working in them radiating calmness and a grace which borders on a spiritual message. There are also many dedicated individuals, some of them great intellectuals, reflecting upon the problems of the system. We have seen a number of persons who have a sacrificed brilliant careers to carry on the struggle. When you still see the pain in their faces after two decades of their struggles , tears come to your eyes. We 259.
have had a number of such experiences. We are putting forth the concept of punyathmas for rural transformation.
Despite the multifarious approaches, the NGOs collectively represent a large part of India. We believe NGOs have an immense role to play, not merely as conscience keepers but also in creating a mood to think a head and create a climate for a developed India .They can become powerful messengers of hope and a positive synergistic mechanism between the organized sectors and individual initiatives in metropolises, cities, towns and villages in schools, colleges and universities in fields, factories and markets.
NGOs have many creative people full of energy. This team can partic.i.p.ate in the movement for a developed India, concentrating on action projects to spread health and educational services as well as to create a climate to make all Indians think as one.
What we can do We have ill.u.s.trated earlier a few large segments of inst.i.tutions whose actions are vital. We have suggested how each of them can decide and act, irrespective of what others do. There are also many other important inst.i.tutions in the financial sector and the service sector. We request all of them to think about our proposition. However, we notice that there is one very important element which is common to all these sectors. That is the people who work is the inst.i.tutions. They may be top managers or good working staff, highly skilled professionals or those with limited capabilities. There are those who do private contract jobs for others. There are people who function as intermediaries. In addition there are a large number of people who do not contribute directly to production or GDP figures. There are many who do voluntary services. All these persons, the human beings behind all activities, can be clubbed as 'WE' .We try to ill.u.s.trate in some ways what we can do. This we are so wide that it encompa.s.ses most Indians. In a way it can cover foreigners who work in India or are working on an Indian contract!
We know that there are several pressures on a top manager's 260.
time but he can set apart a few hours in a week to think and decide how India can become a developed country. Often as a top manager, he is a powerful position to do something different within his agency. As a banker, he could take interest in some innovative project which can have a beneficial impact when they fructify, or one can help out a local administration where there is a good administrator trying to solve people's problems. Take another case: you would have come across youth who are very capable and are enthusiastic about taking up something new. Why not encourage them? You could create some small groups which can discuss possibilities of contributing to a new , emerging India. And act on the conclusions of such discussions. It may well be that some of you join together ,upgrade your skills for creating a new India or give your knowledge to youngsters in your organization. Or you could train people who are less equipped than yourself, maybe in your company or even in your neighborhood. Devote maybe two days in a month for such efforts as a joint project. When you plan many such saplings, some may die, but many would grow.
If you are a clerk in, say, a government department, you can decide to work slightly more efficiently in clearing a public demand or a new project. If you can be an instrument in creating a feeling that the government (Central, state or munic.i.p.al) works speedily and justly, you have created necessary conditions for a developed India. Don't think what can one person do. Many drops make a flood. A worker in a factory can decide to increase his or her productivity a little more and give attention to quality. The j.a.panese have an organized system to obtain and act upon the suggestions at the gra.s.s roots level. We don't have such a system. You can be the initiator of such an effort. At every level a feeling of contributing concretely towards a developed India is a must. The larger the number of persons who act, the better it is.
My coauthor Y.S. Rajan was recently in a meeting to discuss the effects of sanctions. This was before the USA had announced the details. All were Indian and working for foreign banks. One elderly gentleman in emphatically said how we all have to learn to be a proud of ourselves and take action to nullify the Sanctions. He narrated an episode about his visit to j.a.pan. A leaking tap in his hotel room disturbed his 261.
sleep. He complained. Two people came, worked for half an hour and made it right. They showed the performance to him and he was satisfied .Then they apologized deeply for the inconvenience caused to him and informed him of the hostel management's decision not to charge room rend for that night. So far one can perhaps explain this as normal professionalism. But then ,with a bow, the two workers showed the tap piece to him and said, 'Sir! Please see the trouble caused to you is not by a j.a.panese product but an import anted. We will continue to do better ,Sir!'The message is that most j.a.panese are are proud of their country's capability. They want to excel in their work. If each of us attempts to do so in our spheres of work the status of developed India will arrive sooner than we expect, because our country has many nature core strengths and compet.i.tive advantages.
A positive media The media plays an important role in any modern society in molding public option. It has its own constraints. Like any enterprise, it has to make a profit. The media presents news, views and a.n.a.lyses tailored to suit what the readers would like. It also has to create headlines, look for something shocking, exciting or thrilling. But pokhran, or an Indian victory in a cricket match, or some other positive event does not occur every day. Generally, the focus is on the negative: a gory event , on worrying developments. Such coverage has gone to a point that a situation much more worse than is actually the case is being presented.
We do not at all believe that the press role is not to criticize and not to highlight problems. There is also at times a need to exaggerate event a day! Devote a part of the paper to say something good about India which is real and not false. If the major paper does this, there will be a great att.i.tudinal change in the country. Similarly the electronic media can also help to create a new climate: report one good event a day not just from a metropolis or city but also from different part s of the country. Let us discover our heroes who silently work all over the country.
Rediscovering our gurus 262.
If you are a teacher in whatever capacity, you have a very special role to play, because more than anybody else you are shaping generations.
There was a time in this country when teachers were respected as gurus.
Now, however, the teacher's is often a neglected lot. Many of them work under miserable conditions. We are aware of the need to solve their problems, but even given these, we request that teachers do two things.
First, let them think about a developed India in their own ways and enthuse the students. Secondly, they should update their own knowledge because the student is only as good as the teacher . Let them constantly try to upgrade their skills so that they can enthuse the children to think big. Let us not transmit our frustration to them. I attended one parentteacher a.s.sociation in a school and was asked to talk to younger children about some aspects of technology and how India can be transformed. I said, 'Well I would not like to give any special to young children because they themselves are born with the message. They are fresh. I would therefore appeal to the parents and teachers not to pollute their fresh minds with our own frustrations. If we can instead convey to them a message about a bright future and encourage them, that will be a great service we will be doing to them and also to the country.' It is the message we would like to give our reader as well.
Political system and the parliament Lastly our appeal for action will not end without an appeal to the political system and especially to legislative a.s.semblies and the parliament. In rd fact all the panchayats also come under this 73 amendment, the ruling party, the opposition party and also all the political activists have got a great role to play. Technologies are changing at a rapid pace across the world. They are changing the lives of people . We have tried to give a glimpse of this in earlier chapters. India is fortunate to be blessed with many resources of biodiversity, material resources and above all human resources. We have also got a technology and industry base. However, it is not enough to say that we have 263.
these and then also say that we have everything, we will take care of ourselves without making too much of an effort. We have to work hard. We have to work together as a country. While the varies industries, government agencies, private individual ,R&D lab, the NGOs and media all can contribute, the major sources of inspiration and enabling comes from our legislative a.s.semblies will proclaim to the nation 'India's second visions is Developed India before 2020'. This vision statement to the nation is essential. It will trigger the birth of a movement for a prosperous India. We have described many actions that are possible. We have not listed out some obvious examples: if you are a doctor you can extend the benefits of free and inexpensive medical aid to the poor at least to a limited extent if you are a rich building contractor, make it a point to spend on your own or in a cooperative way to improve some parts of town or const.i.tute to rural connectivity around a few villages similarly, exservicemen can attempt to organize a few productive activities in villages or small towns. Writers of textbooks can make a point of adding a few pages on a developed India and emphasizing that all of us have a role in making it. A great nation is made of contributions from a large number of ordinary persons.
Recently a powerful administrator was talking to us about the applications of technologies and information technology, In particular for the agricultural sector. We were explaining about the need to reach 350 million tones of food grain production by 2020 and the fact that it cannot be achieved without selective injection of technologies of water management such as drip irrigation, controlled used of fertilizers, micronutrients and pesticides and many postharvest technologies. All these technologies are multi disciplinary for example, a drip irrigation system would involve plastics, advanced metals, hydraulic system designs, water treatment technologies, soil a.n.a.lysis system, computers, sensors and even automatic control systems.
The reaction of the administrator was to narrate a whole series of subsidies to the farmers, the political patronage at village, state and national levels and other issues of law and order. How can you introduce these technologies? The generation and use of technologies for national development has to be initiated politically. But, we believe, it is equally important that technologies have to be marketed to the political system.
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This is not typical of the agricultural scene alone. Look at manufacturing.
We have discussed at some length the concepts of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Flexible Manufacturing systems (FMS) . We have discussed about laser cutting and water jet cutting as new tools. We have discussed about the everincreasing role of software and IT in the manufacturing sector. Now look at the village or town artisans they do not have a lathe or drilling machine. Most smallscale units have obsolete equipment. Even in the corporate sector there are factories using machinery, which is two or three generations old. We all know about the Maruti story: while it has done a tremendous job in developing manufactures of small components within the country, for the key subsystems of the car the company has to rely upon its j.a.panese parent company. Telco has been relatively successful in building up an inhouse design capability, though it may not as yet be at the cutting edge of automobile technology. For many Indian companies, the dependence on external knows how for design and technology remains very high.
Yes, we have in the agricultural sector visible signs of the oppressive problems of the pastpoverty and feudalism. However, even severe critics will agree that there are many bright spots. Similarly, the manufacturing sector exhibits the effects of colonial domination and the uneven policies of the past fifty years. The general Indian method of taking the soft option through imports on the conditions laid out by the princ.i.p.als is evident too. Still, it is showing increasing dynamism.
It is neither possible nor relevant to talk of one single set of actions for the whole of India. There are many actions which need to be taken. It is not necessary all of them should be started at the same time with a single trigger shot 'GO!' Or that they conflict with one another.
For example, we need to tackle the problems of small and marginal farmers: even for this, solutions are many. It may not be possible to solve them all at the technological level as the holdings are so small. Therefore experimenting with some organizational mechanisms of working out cooperatives or corporate partners.h.i.+ps will be useful. There are also 265.
intermediate solutions of having marginal improvements at the level of smallholdings. Even while doing these, India has to prepare for higher technological level actions for realizing the full potential of the landwaterweather system in a sustainable manner. This may be called highscience or high tech agriculture.
In a similar manner. We need to help a large number of tiny manufacturers and thousands of smallscale units through ancillarization, marketing channels as well as technological inputs. Even while doing so, we need to take action to capture the world markets with hightech manufacturing. We cannot afford to take our preeminence in the manufacturing world of the future for granted.
We were touched by the recent observations by C. Subramanian to a group of industrialists. While discussing newer initiatives in agriculture, he said the Technology Vision 2020 doc.u.ments contain a rich source of information and action points. We should not wait for general policies to emerge but launch demonstration projects there is plenty of scope for such local or regional initiatives.
CS is the architect of India's food security. He started the actions through specific demonstration projects and thousands of farmers saw the successes. The Green Revolution followed. With his recent observations we are doubly convinced of the approach we are suggesting: that is all of us have a role to play actions are many but the goal is one.
Therefore, we find a role for every action aimed at making ONE DEVELOPED INDIA.
Our appeal and request described here is briefly as under.
You (A teacher, banker, Devote a few days in a month to doctor, administrator or doing something better other professional) something speedier something of high quality something which will make you proud something which will make a poorer or suffering person's life a little 266.
better.
Government One mission each to realize the ministries/ vision of developed India with departments internal core strength. Preferably in partners.h.i.+p with other departments, agencies, NGOs and private sector. Don't wait to start.
Central PSUs One project each to make a developed India. Unleash your technological strengths. This is in addition to the mission your ministry may launch and for which you will contribute.
State PSUs At least in one area transform yourself to service the people in your area. If possible launch one project with partners on similar lines that goes beyond your region.
R&D labs/Academic you have the unique opportunity inst.i.tutions to be the frontrunner. Each lab or inst.i.tution to launch such a project of your own, in addition to contributing to missions, PSU projects, etc. You will find financial contributions even around your area.