A Knowledge-Based Economy for Rural Assam
HN Das
Knowledge has been described in Websters dictionary as the sum of what is
known: the body of truth, information and principles acquired by mankind.
Knowingly or unknowingly, knowledge has been used, transferred and transformed
for the welfare and advancement of different communities ever since the dawn of
civilization. The remains of various civilizations and the socio-cultural
practices followed since ancient times bear testimony to this. In the past
half-a-century, there seems to have been a spurt, almost an explosion, of
knowledge which has surpassed in magnitude and dimension, if not in
significance, even the Renaissance of the 15th century and the Industrial
Revolution of the 18th century. This has resulted in a sea change in the way
people live and work.
Knowledge has helped in creation and accumulation of wealth. Those nations
which could absorb knowledge and transform their economies became really
wealthy. They took advantage of the advances in science and technology.
Meanwhile, the world has changed. A couple of examples will illustrate how the
world has changed in the wake of newer and more powerful inventions.
Four-and-a-half decades ago Boeing made their 727 jetliner. Each plane had
millions of components. On a visit to the Boeing factory near Seattle, I
marvelled at the way these airliners were built. My cousin, a doctorate in
aeronautics and one of the topmost Boeing executives, showed me around the
sprawling compound. The weight of the plane included half-a-tonne of metal
shims used to join components together. As a result of technological
improvements, shims are no longer necessary. Even otherwise planes have become
lighter. The latest 777 Boeing jetliners are much bigger but comparatively
lighter and more fuel-efficient. Super jumbo A380, which can carry up to 853
all-economy-class passengers, will be more efficient. Consequently airfares
have dropped and the total number of passengers flying has increased
dramatically.
In the case of computers, the hall-size one used by Robert Oppenheimer in the
Manhattan Project for the atom bomb of early 1940s has given way to personal
computers and laptops. Now palmtops are coming to the market. The fastest
advances have been registered by cell phones. Cell phones today perform a
variety of functions and are more efficient. The science of nanotechnology is
inventing smaller and minute instruments for various uses. Similarly
biotechnology is changing agriculture, horticulture, healthcare and a host of
other activities. Life for the middle classes has changed beyond recognition.
They are enjoying life better, in physical terms, than the richest in the past.
Even for the poorer classes, quite a few gadgets and consumer durables have
become available. Our living standards are going up as knowledge expands and
the quality and efficiency of the factors of production improve.
Bill Gates had described only a part of it when he made the famous prediction
that business is going to change more in the next ten years than it has in the
last fifty in the very first sentence of his bestseller Business @ Speed of
Thought. His reference was to the digital nervous system and particularly to
the internet and the other scientific inventions in the field of information
technology. But tremendous changes have taken place in many other fields of
science since the end of the Second World War.
So far, however, the recent explosion of knowledge has not been used to the
extent possible for rural areas in India where 72.22 per cent of the people
live and among whom 21.8 per cent still remain below the poverty line according
to the latest Planning Commission estimates. In some of the advanced States,
certain sporadic steps in this direction have been initiated. But according to
NR Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited, India is
grossly unprepared for the knowledge economy. According to Murthy, our
performance on a composite index that measures our ability to create, absorb
and diffuse knowledge is 98 in a tally of 128 countries. This index is based on
education, ownership of patents, copyright and access to knowledge economy
tools such as computers and internet. While the country itself is lagging
behind, Assam is further behind.
The Government of India appointed a National Knowledge Commission (NKC) with
Sam Pitroda as Chairman in 2005. The objective is the development of a vibrant
knowledge-based society. This entails both a radical improvement in existing
system of knowledge and creating avenues for generating new forms of
knowledge. It has also been stated that greater participation and more
equitable access to knowledge across all sections of society are of vital
importance in achieving these goals. Elaborating on these objectives, Pitroda
recently said that the result of the Commissions work will be visible in
areas such as improved rural schools and libraries, better agricultural and
medical research as well as improved access for small and medium-scale
industries. Each of these areas has direct bearing on ordinary peoples
everyday life.
The NKC has submitted 12 reports so far. One of the issues under its
consideration is envisaging the use of science and technology as a crucial
tool for development and facilitating their use for solving problems of the
poor and the underprivileged (NKC Report, January, 2007). The Commission
recently held a workshop at IIT-Guwahati to which I was also invited. Earlier,
I paid a visit to their office in New Delhi.
Some feeble and spatially restricted attempts have been made in Assam in the
past, through a few projects, to pass on knowledge to the rural people. These
are essentially of extension education type. The Assam Branch of the Indian Tea
Associations Gramin Krishi Unnayan Prakalpa, in collaboration with the Indian
Space Research Organization, in 10 selected village-clusters cover a population
of 1, 20,501 only. Similarly, the Aryabhatta Science Centres proposed to be set
up by the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council in all 219
development blocks of Assam is yet to be operationalized. I personally feel
that the most important step taken in this direction has been the setting up of
the two science laboratories and the three knowledge centres in Gohpur cluster
under the Choiduar Development Block. This has been possible with finance from
the Centres scheme for Provision of Urban Services in Rural Areas (PURA).
Indias former President APJ Abdul Kalam had suggested
this scheme. PURA should spread to the other 218 development blocks of the
State.
In order to absorb the changes in science and technology, it is imperative that
the leaders of society should be properly initiated into the new developments
in the relevant disciplines. This can be done only if the curriculum in the
universities and schools are updated in step with the changes in ideas,
theories and practices. The new batches of graduates then would be able to
engage themselves in diffusion, transfer and transformation of knowledge to the
rural people.
(The writer was Chief Secretary, Assam, during 1990-95)
(The Sentinel,25.10.2007)
http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/
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