Rajiv Gandhi's Speech :
IT is INDEED a great pleasure to be amongst you today when you complete 25 years of true service to the nation.
Every developing country needs technological manpower if it is to develop and move out of the developing category into the developed category. The biggest problem faced by all developing countries is this lack of trained manpower. There is a lack in the technological field, in the scientific field, in management and administration. And the IlTs have filled this gap to a very great extent?not just with a large number of people but also with the high quality of individuals that they have turned out. I must congratulate the lITs and the young men and women who have gone through these institutions.
But you are a very privileged group?privileged in terms of the assistance given to enable you to achieve this quality and standard, which compare with institutions outside the country. This privilege must help to strengthen India, India?s economy, India?s science and technology. It is only when we are really strong within ourselves that we are independent and can stand firm and fast on the principles that uphold India. This is the task before you. We have won political independence, but the freedom fighters for our full economic independence must come out of such institutions.
Mention has been made of brain drain. This is one of our major problems, but I see it slightly differently. When one talks of brain drain, one assumes that the phase of learning ends as you get your degree; that you have a developed brain, and now you are leaving the country; so it is brain drain. But I don?t agree with that at all. Learning continues right through life. It does not stop at any stage. If a few people go out, they are going out to increase that learning. What we must see is that ultimately when further knowledge has been gained, further experience has been gained, these brains come back to contribute to our country again. If somebody does not come back at all, yes, that is brain drain. But if somebody goes out when he is 23 or 25 or 30, I don?t consider that brain drain, provided we can get him back at a later date to use his further experience, his further knowledge, for the benefit of our country
We must produce the atmosphere, the infrastructure, for it in industry, in our research establishments, in our academic establishments. And we are attempting to do this. But in any developing country this does take time. We in India are privileged that we are able to produce more such people. We are ahead on the human development side. We have produced more able people than we can use. It is a much better situation than having fewer people than arc needed. The optimum would be if we could balance the two. But it takes a little while to do that.
The Chairman of the Board (Dr. H.N. Sethna) has raised a very valid point about relationship with industry. The relationship has to be not just in research but also in getting to the shop-floor. Perhaps our biggest impediment to fast growth is the lack of a proper work ethic in industry. Our education system was inherited from a colonial era when the jobs were basically clerical, white-coller jobs. A white-collar mentality is ingrained in everyone who goes through our education system. He or she is unwilling to use their hands on machines, on the shop-floor in doing things. This has to be changed.
The relationship with industry must be much deeper. Our industry has been mollycoddled for too long with protectionism and many types of assistance. The system cannot just be switched around. It will take a bit of time. But we have to do some basic thinking now. Our industrial development has come through first phase of basic and heavy industries, the phase that should have come 200 years ago. At that stage unfortunately we entered a period when our own genius were suppressed. So we are late.
We have to make up these 200 years. It cannot be made up by always being followers. If we are only striving to do somethingthat the others have already done, we shall always remain one step or two steps, behind. We have to jump these steps. That is the only way. We have set up the basis for that. The foundations have been laid. It is for this generation to see that we make these leaps and are abreast of the most advanced nations?not in every field but certainly in fields that are critical to us.
This is really the challenge that you will be facing and that you must overcome. Our industry has been protected, as I pointed out. We are going through a phase of allowing them to import technology. Unfortunately our industry has done almost no development of technology. We import technology, we use it, and 20 years later we are still using the same technology. We have done no homework of our own. We have done no development of our own, not even in the small se Of course I am talking in general terms. There are certain thrust areas where our science and technology have done tremendous work. In the nuclear field, for example; in space, in certain bio-technology areas. But by tnd large our industry has relied too much on importing technology. And because of the protection, they have not bothered to develop technology.
This must be changed and we are attempting to change it from the government side. But the pressure must also come from within industry, from within our technological and scientific communities. It is only when our industry will be able to generate its own development that we can say that we are on the road to industrial development. We cannot resort every 20 years or 30 years to an injection of technology. This is what you have to do when you go out into the real world.
Perhaps the biggest challenge that we face today in science and technology is not in regard to the peaks that we produce. We are happy that many have gone to the top of their fields. We have people who are equal to any in the world. But this has not filtered down enough, has not spread enough, amongst our people. We want not merely pillars of knowledge but pyramids of knowledge. This change has to be brought about.
Panditji spoke many years ago about developing a scientific temper. This has not yet spread among the masses. A scientific temper does not mean just using high technology but seeing to it that things work properly. I was reminded of it when you graduates today were tripping over the carpet and the wire. That is what I mean by the scientific temper. The mind must go into putting things right. As we go into the next phase of industrialisation and technological development, this is going to be a very real and serious challenge for us. We are producing people in IlTs and certain other key institutes who are really top brains. But with electronics coming in, the sophistication is going up. We are using very sophisticated controls for very simple gadgets five or ten years ago. We are getting micro-processors into areas which we could not have dreamt of earlier. These are getting cheaper and cheaper. They are going to proliferate. Soon we are going to have them all over, not just in consumer areas, but also in industrial areas and various others. Who will service these gadgets? They are not going to come from these institutes. You are at a much higher level. Even today cars are using one computer, may be two computers, one for fuel management, one for other things. Is our car mechanic able to service the cars which are being produced today?
These are the questions that we must face. This peak that we have produced must broaden out into a pyramid, so that the technological attitude, the technological temper, goes down to our masses.
I should like to congratulate the Delhi lIT on its Silver Jubilee, and the girls and boys on their graduation. The challenges that are ahead of you are indeed tremendous. We look towards you to give a lead in these areas. There is one area which I must mention. Our scientific and technological institutions somehow do not allow young minds to come out to the fore. There is an administrative or may be a bureaucratic block and somehow this has to be overcome if we are to truly progress.
I have been talking to Indians who are non-resident, our own scientists, and scientists from other countries. One thing is very clear?that at the rate at which science and technology is advancing, delay of even one or two generations of graduation may be too much of a gap to be able to be in touch with the latest technology. I was talking with some Indians who handle very highly sophisticated technology in advanced communications in the US, and they were saying that once a man is over 35, he is just not in touch with the front line technology and he has to be moved out of basic Research and Design and to some other field so that new minds can come in. I don?t say that we will be so drastic here. But the thinking has to be in this direction. We have to bring dynamism and movement into our more senior institutions.
Let me thank you once again for giving this opportunity to be with you today. We look forward to the next 25 years of the IITs.
IT is INDEED a great pleasure to be amongst you today when you complete 25 years of true service to the nation.
Every developing country needs technological manpower if it is to develop and move out of the developing category into the developed category. The biggest problem faced by all developing countries is this lack of trained manpower. There is a lack in the technological field, in the scientific field, in management and administration. And the IlTs have filled this gap to a very great extent?not just with a large number of people but also with the high quality of individuals that they have turned out. I must congratulate the lITs and the young men and women who have gone through these institutions.
But you are a very privileged group?privileged in terms of the assistance given to enable you to achieve this quality and standard, which compare with institutions outside the country. This privilege must help to strengthen India, India?s economy, India?s science and technology. It is only when we are really strong within ourselves that we are independent and can stand firm and fast on the principles that uphold India. This is the task before you. We have won political independence, but the freedom fighters for our full economic independence must come out of such institutions.
Mention has been made of brain drain. This is one of our major problems, but I see it slightly differently. When one talks of brain drain, one assumes that the phase of learning ends as you get your degree; that you have a developed brain, and now you are leaving the country; so it is brain drain. But I don?t agree with that at all. Learning continues right through life. It does not stop at any stage. If a few people go out, they are going out to increase that learning. What we must see is that ultimately when further knowledge has been gained, further experience has been gained, these brains come back to contribute to our country again. If somebody does not come back at all, yes, that is brain drain. But if somebody goes out when he is 23 or 25 or 30, I don?t consider that brain drain, provided we can get him back at a later date to use his further experience, his further knowledge, for the benefit of our country
We must produce the atmosphere, the infrastructure, for it in industry, in our research establishments, in our academic establishments. And we are attempting to do this. But in any developing country this does take time. We in India are privileged that we are able to produce more such people. We are ahead on the human development side. We have produced more able people than we can use. It is a much better situation than having fewer people than arc needed. The optimum would be if we could balance the two. But it takes a little while to do that.
The Chairman of the Board (Dr. H.N. Sethna) has raised a very valid point about relationship with industry. The relationship has to be not just in research but also in getting to the shop-floor. Perhaps our biggest impediment to fast growth is the lack of a proper work ethic in industry. Our education system was inherited from a colonial era when the jobs were basically clerical, white-coller jobs. A white-collar mentality is ingrained in everyone who goes through our education system. He or she is unwilling to use their hands on machines, on the shop-floor in doing things. This has to be changed.
The relationship with industry must be much deeper. Our industry has been mollycoddled for too long with protectionism and many types of assistance. The system cannot just be switched around. It will take a bit of time. But we have to do some basic thinking now. Our industrial development has come through first phase of basic and heavy industries, the phase that should have come 200 years ago. At that stage unfortunately we entered a period when our own genius were suppressed. So we are late.
We have to make up these 200 years. It cannot be made up by always being followers. If we are only striving to do somethingthat the others have already done, we shall always remain one step or two steps, behind. We have to jump these steps. That is the only way. We have set up the basis for that. The foundations have been laid. It is for this generation to see that we make these leaps and are abreast of the most advanced nations?not in every field but certainly in fields that are critical to us.
This is really the challenge that you will be facing and that you must overcome. Our industry has been protected, as I pointed out. We are going through a phase of allowing them to import technology. Unfortunately our industry has done almost no development of technology. We import technology, we use it, and 20 years later we are still using the same technology. We have done no homework of our own. We have done no development of our own, not even in the small se Of course I am talking in general terms. There are certain thrust areas where our science and technology have done tremendous work. In the nuclear field, for example; in space, in certain bio-technology areas. But by tnd large our industry has relied too much on importing technology. And because of the protection, they have not bothered to develop technology.
This must be changed and we are attempting to change it from the government side. But the pressure must also come from within industry, from within our technological and scientific communities. It is only when our industry will be able to generate its own development that we can say that we are on the road to industrial development. We cannot resort every 20 years or 30 years to an injection of technology. This is what you have to do when you go out into the real world.
Perhaps the biggest challenge that we face today in science and technology is not in regard to the peaks that we produce. We are happy that many have gone to the top of their fields. We have people who are equal to any in the world. But this has not filtered down enough, has not spread enough, amongst our people. We want not merely pillars of knowledge but pyramids of knowledge. This change has to be brought about.
Panditji spoke many years ago about developing a scientific temper. This has not yet spread among the masses. A scientific temper does not mean just using high technology but seeing to it that things work properly. I was reminded of it when you graduates today were tripping over the carpet and the wire. That is what I mean by the scientific temper. The mind must go into putting things right. As we go into the next phase of industrialisation and technological development, this is going to be a very real and serious challenge for us. We are producing people in IlTs and certain other key institutes who are really top brains. But with electronics coming in, the sophistication is going up. We are using very sophisticated controls for very simple gadgets five or ten years ago. We are getting micro-processors into areas which we could not have dreamt of earlier. These are getting cheaper and cheaper. They are going to proliferate. Soon we are going to have them all over, not just in consumer areas, but also in industrial areas and various others. Who will service these gadgets? They are not going to come from these institutes. You are at a much higher level. Even today cars are using one computer, may be two computers, one for fuel management, one for other things. Is our car mechanic able to service the cars which are being produced today?
These are the questions that we must face. This peak that we have produced must broaden out into a pyramid, so that the technological attitude, the technological temper, goes down to our masses.
I should like to congratulate the Delhi lIT on its Silver Jubilee, and the girls and boys on their graduation. The challenges that are ahead of you are indeed tremendous. We look towards you to give a lead in these areas. There is one area which I must mention. Our scientific and technological institutions somehow do not allow young minds to come out to the fore. There is an administrative or may be a bureaucratic block and somehow this has to be overcome if we are to truly progress.
I have been talking to Indians who are non-resident, our own scientists, and scientists from other countries. One thing is very clear?that at the rate at which science and technology is advancing, delay of even one or two generations of graduation may be too much of a gap to be able to be in touch with the latest technology. I was talking with some Indians who handle very highly sophisticated technology in advanced communications in the US, and they were saying that once a man is over 35, he is just not in touch with the front line technology and he has to be moved out of basic Research and Design and to some other field so that new minds can come in. I don?t say that we will be so drastic here. But the thinking has to be in this direction. We have to bring dynamism and movement into our more senior institutions.
Let me thank you once again for giving this opportunity to be with you today. We look forward to the next 25 years of the IITs.
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