The Hindu Business Line : Flying on a dream

Envisioning an Empowered Nation - Technology for
Societal Transformation
By Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with
Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai
Publishers: Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
Price: Rs 300.
India - My Dream
An Interactive Lecture Series
Agenda for the Nation
Publishers: All India Management Association,
Hyderabad Management Association and Excel
Books Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
Price: Rs 150.

From `vision to mission', and transforming dreams into reality to see a developed India by 2020 are the central themes of two new books — Envisioning an Empowered Nation, and India — My Dream, in which the principal driving force is unmistakably the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Another fundamentally common theme that runs through these two works is the key role technology plays as a delivery tool to catalyse this great transformation. So, the content revolves around the big challenges before the country such as literacy, healthcare, water (too familiar for ages now) and how technological interventions can sort them out. In short, the stuff is serious.

Envisioning an Empowered Nation — Technology for Societal Transformation, co-authored by Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer of Brahmos Missile Company and Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam attempts to give shape to the ideas presented in the Vision 2020 documents, unveiled in 1997 by the then Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda. A compendium of 17 technology areas were identified to catapult India into the club of developed nations from the present developing country status. Piloted by the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and consisting of suggestions from 500 experts, they were intended to guide the transformation with the large Government, Private sector and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) playing a significant role. Dr Sivathanu Pillai and Dr Kalam base their transformation journey for the country on the strength of Technology and in the implementation of large mission-driven projects.

Drawing extensively from the success of the space, missile, agriculture, Information Technology and finally the large manpower, the authors feel that vision 2020 is in the realm of the possible. The linking of rivers, water mission, healthcare, tourism, literacy, alternate energy all driven by the application of technology and implemented through mega national programmes would clearly place India on the path to rapid development, contend the authors.

Though, the question of raising huge funds, for example, the mega river-linking projects is estimated to cost more than Rs One lakh crore, is a practical issue to be seriously addressed. While there can hardly be any doubt that technology should benefit society, the core issue that the book should have addressed in depth perhaps was to integrate the strengths existing within the Indian milieu and ground reality.

It is one thing to say that the advances in strategic sectors can be converted into societal advantages and another to realise them as the delivery stage is fraught with many challenges. The Society for Biomedical Technology, which experimented this route by developing indigenous pacemakers, stents, lasers and the like has but achieved marginal success when it came to technology transfer and bringing low cost Indian made hi-tech products to the poor masses.

The book is the result of the extensive travelling and interactions with people from various walks of life, including a large number of students. This last category who constitute about 700 million of the country's population is the biggest source of confidence to Dr Kalam and Dr Pillai as draw the road map to realise the goals.

Igniting these young minds and tapping their latent talent can work wonders. But, if the past four decades post independence are any indication, a lesson to be drawn is the fact that a significant number (especially urbanites) of youth in the country, have been dreaming of going abroad at the earliest.

The successes of IT professionals, especially in globalised economies have only accelerated the trend. So, unless a challenging environment is created within the country, this growing talent could contribute both in technology development (abroad) and delivery (operating from India for MNCs) more to developed nations.

On the other hand India-My Dream is an interactive lecture series, which sets an agenda for the nation to achieve this transformation. Leading figures like Dr V. Kurien (White Revolution), Dr Pratap C. Reddy (Apollo Hospitals), Dr P. Rama Rao (For. Department of Science and Technology, Secretary), Prof. N. Balakrishnan (Indian Institute of Sciences), Dr Y.S. Rajan (TIFAC), Dileep Padgaonkar (Journalist), Tarun Das (CII) and H.L. Bajaj (Power sector) share their dreams of a future developed India and give their own route maps in a sleek, well edited volume.

With a foreword by the Director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Dr Prahlada, the series is topped with the biggest dreamer of them all — Dr Kalam himself, whose passion to see India transformed into a developed nation by 2020 is well known now.

Since, the speakers have a distinguished track record of bringing about transformation in their respective fields, the experiences they share and the suggestions they put forward, amply supported by examples of successes and challenges, make the volume to be taken seriously by the policy makers and in whose hands the decision making lies, to put the country on the road to development.

Picture by K. Bhagya Prakash

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