Address At The India Today Conclave

"I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN A HAPPY, PROSPEROUS, PEACEFUL AND SAFE INDIA"

Tell me What you will do Mr. President? Also tell me what I should do for that?

When the India Today Conclave posed the question "India Tomorrow 2003: Global Giant or Pygmy?", I recalled an event of meeting the students of Nagaland during my recent visit. A 5th class boy asked, "I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN A HAPPY, PROSPEROUS, PEACEFUL AND SAFE INDIA. Tell me, what will you do Mr. President? Also tell me what I should do for that?". During my interactions with school children of the 17 States and 3 Union Territories which I have visited, a series of similar questions were raised. My visit included North East that is full of bio diversity, the desert region in the West, the southern states surrounded by the beautiful seas, and other economically stronger and also not so stronger states with varied cultures. Also I have studied various reports on the performance of the states and had discussions. Everywhere, the vision of 'developed' India reverberated, particularly among the young who projected their aspirations to live in a happy, prosperous and peaceful India. Hence, the title of my address emerged from the urge of the boy from Nagaland. It may also answer India Today Conclave's question

India Today

Our Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address, on 15th August 2002, from the Red Fort, declared that India will become a Developed Nation by 2020. India has entered into 10th Five Year Plan with a focus of all round development. The National Development Council has since approved economic growth rate of 8%. The 10th plan is a very vital period as it has to lay foundation for this journey of transformation by initiating mission projects that will bring economic strength to the nation. It is equally important to note that a task team has been formed by the Government for networking of rivers to transfer water from surplus basins to areas of deficit. This river networking will meet the requirements of drinking water, irrigation, navigation, power generation, creation of employment opportunities and above all enhancement of environment leading to national connectivity. Since my government has already taking up transforming India into a Developed Nation by 2020, I have found relevance between the Vision-2020 documents, Naga Child's Question and the India Today Conclave's thought provoking theme.

Our Civilisational Heritage

I have also looked at the thought process in our country. Sometimes I feel, we as a nation of billion people thinking like nation of million people. Why is it so? Whereas Indians are natural born leaders in critical situations and challenging environments for the reason they live in a society of multi religions and multi ethnical groups. I consider no other nation like India, has got the civilisational heritage to live near peaceful life. Indian minds were capable of absorbing the best of cultures from the successive invasions. We have also evolved the great qualities of leadership to manage the nation of billion people with various dimensions in every aspect of life. Now we should not allow any religion or any individual fanaticism to endanger our nation. Because, nation is very important compared to any individual or party or religion.

Economic Strength & Peace

Even the rich and developed nations, in spite of their wealth and military strength, are afraid of virtual enemies and they live with fear complex. In this situation, economic strength alone has no meaning. Economic prosperity and military strength alone do not bring peace to any nation, as we see from dynamics of the world. In such a situation it is also very important to transform our religious forces into spiritual forces. Evolution of spiritual forces in addition to economic prosperity and military strength will bring happiness, peace and prosperity.

I would like to share with you, the issues of emerging India's economic and needed technology growth, integrated actions for developed India, core competence in information and communication technology, bio-technology, space technology and a model for providing urban amenities in rural areas.

Emerging India

We got freedom in 1947, that was the result of first vision for the nation. This vision created best of leaders in many fields like politics, philosophy, judiciary, science & technology and industry. In many aspects of life, improvement in literacy, agricultural products, strategic areas, certain small and large-scale industries took place. Now more than fifty years have gone by and we are called as one of the hundreds of developing countries, in a distinct way a separation from G-8 countries. We have many challenges. Nearly 260 million people who are below the poverty line have to join the mainstream of a good life. 100% literacy, health for all, multiple industrial and agricultural productivity and life style with value system has to emerge. Hence we need the second vision for the nation to become developed.

India through Ages

India had its glory during early civilization and agricultural age. Successive invasions and foreign rules and rise in population brought down India's prosperity to a lower level. India also could not participate in the Industrial revolution which led the western countries to take a lead, increasing the gap between the west and India. India went through famine, starvation in many parts and national calamities and looked for ships to come to our ports with wheat from western countries. After Independence, India looked forward in development through Five Year Plans. The green revolution and the technology growth enabled India to prosper with self sufficiency in food and achievement in many technological frontiers particularly during the last two decades. A major transformation came during the information age where India established its position with its strong core competence in Information Technology. Today India is in the knowledge age which provides an opportunity to become a developed nation with strong economy.

Economic Growth in different societies

During the last century, the world has undergone a change from agriculture society, where manual labour was the critical factor, to industrial society where the management of technology, capital and labour provided the competitive advantage. Then the information era was born in the last decade, where connectivity and software products are driving the economy of a few nations. In the 21st century, a new society is emerging where knowledge is the primary production resource instead of capital and labour. Efficient utilisation of this existing knowledge can create comprehensive wealth of the nation and also improve the quality of life - in the form of better health, education, infrastructure and other social indicators. Ability to create and maintain the knowledge infrastructure, develop knowledge workers and enhance their productivity through creation, growth and exploitation of new knowledge will be the key factors in deciding the prosperity of this Knowledge Society. Whether a nation has arrived at a stage of knowledge society is judged by the way the country effectively deals with knowledge creation and knowledge deployment in all sectors like IT, Industries, Agriculture, Health Care etc.,

Changes in employment, agriculture, Industry and Service - Knowledge Industries

In 1980, agriculture areas employed in parts or in full 76% of people of the country and it reduced to 65% in 1994 and expected to further fall to 60% of people in agriculture by 2012. Whereas, the demand of agricultural products will double in quantity, productivity using technology and post harvest management will have to compensate the manpower reduction in farming and agricultural products sector. In the case of industry, in 1980, 13% of the population was employed in small scale and large scale industries. The trend continued during 1994. However, it has to increase in 2010, as the GDP growth with high technology in the situation of opening up of the economy under WTO regime. The pattern of employment will take a new shape. Service with knowledge industry component from 11% employability in 1980 has increased to 20% in 1994. And further it will increase to 54% in 2012 in view of infrastructure, maintenance areas, financial sector, IT sector and entertainment demands. This big change will demand in all areas more trained skilled human power and technology personnel. Our industrialists, commercial chiefs and technologists may have to get ready for such transformation in agriculture, industries and service - knowledge industries for which human manpower with knowledge and skills has to be evolved in a mission mode. And also evolution of knowledge management has been presented linking vision for the nation.

Technology in India

India after its independence was determined to move ahead with planned policies for Science & Technology. Now, India is very near to self-sufficiency in food. Also improvements in the health sector have eliminated a few contagious diseases. There is an increase in life expectancy. Small scale industries provide high percentage of National GDP - a vast change in 1990s compared to 1950s. Today, India can design, develop and launch world class communication and remote sensing satellites. The nuclear establishments have reached the capability of building nuclear power stations, nuclear medicine and nuclear irradiation of agricultural seeds for growth in agricultural production. Today India has become a Nuclear Weapon State. Defence Research had led to design, development and production of strategic and cruise missile systems, sonars, under water weapons, light combat aircraft, tanks, electronic warfare systems and various armours. Also we have seen growth in the Information Technology; the country is progressing in hardware and software export business of more than 10 billion dollars even though there are low ebbs in the last few years. India yet is a developing country.

Next 50 years in Human Life

People's life will be enriched by IT driven knowledge products and systems, bio technology and space technology. As a Future Revolution, it is predicted that the humanity will see human habitat in one of the planets and space solar power radiating to earth for electric power. Human life will be further extended for the reasons of genomic & biotechnology research outcomes. The Nano technology will enter into human usage like the control systems of various transporting systems, medical technology equipments and aerospace systems.

ICT as a Main GDP Contributor - Scope in India

In most developed nations ICT contributes directly to around 7 to 8% of their GDP. It is expected that by 2010 in these countries ICT will account for 25% of the GDP either directly (by way of sale of hardware and software) or indirectly (being an integral part of e-governance, connectivity for improved productivity, in industries and even in daily life for improved efficiency and transparency). In India ICT today accounts for nearly 2% of GDP. To be a developed nation, we should enhance this significantly.

ICT - India's Core Competence

Our core competencies that can be exploited in addition to what has been planned in 1998 include Information Security, Scientific Software development, e-governance that can spearhead a strong Domestic market, Entertainment, Education, Hardware and chip design and Wireless. If we exploit these areas of our core competency we can create Indian MNCs and could aim at a target of 150 billion dollars by the year 2010. Our Industry is capable of delivering the right goods every time and all the time.

Bio-diversity : a core competence of India

India is rich in herbs, germ plasma and micro organisms. Industrially developed countries are importing these bio-resources in the raw forms and add value to them and export as special seeds, bio-materials to developing countries including India. They also fully protect patents of these products. Instead of allowing export of such resources and importing value added products at high cost, India must add its own technology for conversion of such resources to value added products for use in domestic requirement and also for export. Particularly, in the herbal area there are potential applications for developing multiple products for nutrition, prevention and cure of certain diseases. Of the global herbal product market of 61 billion dollars, China has a share of around 3 billion dollars, whereas India's share is not even 100 million dollars. Hence, there is tremendous opportunity for higher market share. India has similar potential for promoting floriculture and aquaculture in a big way.

Space Technology

Space technology can provide solutions to the problems of man and society. Space technology will enable e-education, integrated healthcare schemes and connectivity to community activities for sustainable economic development. This will lead to employment generation, higher literacy, availability of clean energy and wealth generation for the welfare of the society with improved quality of life.

Integrated action for developed India

In order to realize developed India by 2020, five key areas have been identified for an integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing - with a target of 360 million tons per annum of food and agricultural products. Other areas of agriculture and agro food processing would bring food security and prosperity to rural people and speed up the economic growth; (2) Education and Healthcare - aiming to increase the employment potential leading to social security and population control; (3) Infrastructure development including reliable and quality electric power for all parts of the country, which is vital for all the core sectors; (4) Information and Communication Technology - This is one of our core competencies, promoting education in remote areas and creating massive employment and national wealth through export earning; (5) Critical technologies and strategic industries - the progress in nuclear, space and defence technologies will provide sustained growth and self-reliance for the nation.

These five areas are closely inter-related and lead to national, food and economic security. A strong partnership among the R&D, academy, industry, business and the community as a whole with the Government departments and agencies will be essential to accomplish the vision.

Networking of rivers

Networking of rivers is essential for flood and drought control, for availability of drinking water to all regions, for goods navigation and transportation and for increased power generation and cultivation land. This mission will also provide employment opportunities to the rural population. Science and technology can surely help in executing such mission. Remote sensing to survey and evolve optimum water routes, environmental mapping and afforestation requirements, and continuous monitoring of the networked water flow through all seasons and at all times may require a dedicated satellite constellation for our networked river systems. Above all, the networking will lead to enhancement of environment and national connectivity.

Knowledge powered PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas)

Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) is another example for creating rural wealth and prosperity. The model envisages a habitat designed to improve the quality of life in rural places and makes special suggestions to remove urban congestion also. Naturally our most demanding urban problem is that of congestion removal and efficient supply of water and effective waste disposal in every locality are the paramount civic needs. There is a minimum size below which a habitat is not viable and not competitive with the existing congested city. At the same time, the existing congested city is not economical compared to a new town once a minimum size of expansion is crossed. As against a conventional city say, rectangular in shape and measuring approximately 10 km by 6 km, the model considers an annular ring-shaped town integrating minimum 8 to 10 villages of the same 60 km2 area. This model provides easy access to villages, saves transportation time and cuts costs substantially and is more convenient for general public. Knowledge powered rural development is an essential need for transforming India into a knowledge power and high bandwidth rural connectivity is the minimum requirement to take education, health care and economic activities to the rural areas. Knowledge society leading to knowledge super power can prosper and survive only in the environment of economic security and internal security. Physical connectivity by providing roads, electronic connectivity by providing reliable communication network and knowledge connectivity by establishing professional institutions and vocational training centers will have to be done in an integrated way so that economic connectivity will emanate. Such Model of establishing a circular connectivity among the rural village complexes will accelerate rural development process by empowerment.

Prosperous, happy and peaceful India

The nation's strengths predominantly reside in its natural and human resources. In natural resources, India is endowed with a vast coast-line with marine resources and also oil wealth. In minerals, apart from conventional material resources, it is well-known that India has the largest deposits of titanium, beryllium and tungsten. India ranks among the top few nations having a rich bio-diversity. Knowledge-based value addition for these natural resources would mean exporting value-added products rather than merely the raw materials. Use of IT for commercialisation and marketing can increase our outreach and speed enormously. Ancient knowledge is a unique resource of India for it has the treasure of a minimum of 5000 years of civilisation. It is essential to leverage this wealth for national well being as well as to seek global presence for the nation.

Human resources, particularly with large young population, are unique core strength of the nation. This resource can be transformed through various educational and training programmes. Skilled, unskilled and creative manpower can be transformed into wealth generators particularly in the service sectors, agro industries etc. Knowledge-intensive industries can be generated out of our existing industries by injecting demand for high-level software/hardware, which would bring tremendous value addition. It is said, "the precious asset for a company or a country is the skill, ingenuity and imagination of its people. With globalisation, this will become more important because many will have access to world class technology and the key distinguishing feature will be the ability of people in different countries to use their imagination to make the best use of the technology". Indeed development and innovative use of multiple technologies with mission projects and transparent management structure will give a thrust to propel India into a 'developed nation'.

Creative Leadership

For building the developed India, what are needed? We have natural resources and we have human power. There are 700 million people below 35 years in the population of a billion people. The nation needs young leaders who can command the change for transformation of India into a developed nation embedded with knowledge society from now to twenty years. The leaders are the creators of new organizations of excellence. Quality leaders are like magnets that will attract the best of persons to build the team for the organization and give inspiring leadership even during failures of missions as they are not afraid of risks. I have seen and worked with creators of vision and missions. The vision ignites particularly the young mind.

One of the very important ingredients for success of the vision of transforming India into a developed nation by 2020 is the evolution of creative leaders. I am giving a connectivity between missions of developed India, economic prosperity, technology, production, productivity, employee role and management quality, all of which linked to the creative leader. Who is that creative leader? What are the qualities of a creative leader? The creative leadership is exercising the task to change the traditional role from commander to coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitate self respect. The higher the proportion of creative leaders in a nation, the higher the potential of success of visions like "developed India."

Concluding remarks

With the vision and characteristics of creative leader defined, what can be the tasks of various spectrum of people. The student community can take the task during holidays to remove the illiteracy of certain number of people in their area where their schools or houses are situated. Only a burning candle can light another. Teachers and parents can assist them in this task. As the students spend 25,000 hours in school campus upto ten plus two, the teachers necessarily must become role models and inculcate value systems in the learning. The Government and R&D labs can provide technological upgradation to small-scale industries so that production can be increased and they become competitive. The large-scale industries have to increase their productivity and quality so that the market share can be increased for economic growth and GDP. They can aim to become multinational companies and global leaders. The farming community, needs to increase their productivity with the help of available new scientific methods particularly for dry land cultivation. The Information Technology and knowledge workers have got a tremendous responsibility to contribute in the areas of tele-medicine, tele-education and e-governance for rural areas apart from their business role. PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Area) has to be a business proposition economically viable and managed by entrepreneurs and small scale industrialists with government participation, as it involves education, health, power generation, transport and management. In this vision period, the whole Government agency, has to build a name for itself, by fast decision making and transparent administration. Media has to become a partner and positive critic in national development. Our musicians, poets, artisans and artists should nurture the glory of living of our great civilization and sing the song of developed India. This type of motivated environment will be indeed a great foundation for our vision of transforming India into a 'developed nation'.

My best wishes to all of you.