The Hindu Business Line : Knowledge, tech hold key to growth, Kalam tells children

THE President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today said that knowledge and technology, driven by competition and innovation, should be the primary production resource base of India in the 21st century.

Addressing nearly 1,400 school children and sharing his vision for India as a developed nation by 2020, Dr Kalam said that the ability to create and maintain 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 a nation in the future. The President was addressing children at a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the occasion of children's day.

The President's vision for the country as a developed nation included an economic growth of between 5 and10 per cent, 100 per cent literacy, health for all, high technology base, self reliance in critical sectors, improved infrastructure and world class institutions. Dr Kalam further said that the percentage of people living below the poverty level in the country should come down to zero in order to attain a high GDP growth. The President further said that his vision of a developed Indian would be complete when all citizens of the country lived in a happy, secured and prosperous nation.

Dr Kalam also identified five areas including agriculture and food processing, reliable and quality electric power, education and healthcare, IT and strategic sectors such as space and defence technology — where India had core competence and which would lead to creation of national wealth, high economic growth and security of the country. The President said that the application of core technologies related to preservation, storage and rodent problems in Indian agriculture would lead to a production volume of 400 million tonnes from the present level of 200 million tonnes.

In the area of healthcare, Dr Kalam was of the view that integrated and core technology missions such as application of vaccines, biodiversity, genetic engineering, rapid diagnostics and tele-medicines should be implemented to transform India into a developed country by 2020. The President was of the opinion that employment pattern in agriculture, industry and service would undergo a sea-change in the coming years as services along with the knowledge industry's contribution to India's GDP would be almost 54 per cent. Thus, more knowledge industries have to be evolved which would require trained skilled human power and technology personnel, Dr Kalam said.

Later interacting with school children, the President said that India would not use its nuclear power first.

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