Rethinking knowledge

Sam Pitroda

India is uniquely placed to emerge as the most consequential global knowledge base with its 550 million people below the age of 25. Globalisation,  privatisation and free market economy together offer the country an unprecedented opportunity and exposure to the world outside and in the process bring about an understanding about what it takes to become a global knowledge base. If India can harness the boundless energies of its young,  potential for growth is unique and immense. New internet and wireless communications technologies and new methods and new mindsets are critical and essential to restructuring existing institutions to respond to this historic opportunity.

To focus on ‘Knowledge’ we need to focus on access, concepts, creation, applications and services related to knowledge. These include not just education as people commonly think but also libraries, networks, portals, languages, translations,   literacy, primary, secondary schools, vocational training, distance learning, universities, research, science, technology,   innovations, enterpreneurship, patents, copyrights, traditional knowledge, applications in agriculture, health, and small and medium scale industries, e-governance and many other areas of national importance. 

We need to deliver on primary, secondary and tertiary education. But that cannot be an end in itself. For a country of India's size and appetite for growth it is imperative to pursue all-round vocational policies. People can be gainfully employed even without formal degrees.

One of the primary requirements for India to become the world's knowledge backbone is to guarantee that people have an easy and cost effective access to information and education. That in turn means a much greater number of seats in schools and colleges and broadband connectivity at the same time. There has to be autonomy, freedom and flexibility in higher education systems. Knowledge has to be creative, relevant, effective and useful. There was never a more opportune time than now for Indians to think big, bold and global.

But let us also not forget all the knowledge that already exists in India. It needs to be documented,   packaged and made more relevant to today's demands. There are so many traditional areas of knowledge related to agriculture and health for example which could be vital to our growth as a society. These are the areas that need new champions and new advocates like IT now has. India's demands for education at every level are so large that there will necessarily have to be a partnership between the state and the private sector. Privatizing education is fine and must be welcomed, but at the same time the government cannot abdicate its responsibility of delivering primary education. It must invest a lot more in research and development. And as part of the strategy we will have to encourage the participation of foreign universities and colleges.

While business leaders and entrepreneurs have begun to seek global opportunities, our knowledge experts are still staying confined within our borders. I believe India has the necessary intellectual capital to invest around the world. Let us not be limited in our imagination and horizon.

One thing is clear: we need to rethink and invest heavily in ‘Knowledge institutions' and infrastructure with private,   public and civil society partnerships to create opportunities for all segments of the Indian population. This will take time, energy and imagination. It will require new proposals and new experiments. It will also require public commitment and consensus on many critical and complicated issues of national importance. We have the foundations to make that great leap forward in knowledge. The seeds for this foundation were laid by the late Rajiv Gandhi who envisioned that in future knowledge would matter far more than firepower and military muscle. I was part of that endeavour which took place over 20 years ago. Things have changed now. In telecom when we started we had 2 million phones for the entire country. Now we are adding 4 to 5 million new phones every month.This shows that it can be done.

Today, the whole issue of education is getting bogged down in irrelevant debate and discussions. The fact still remains that we need to substantially improve access,    coverage, quality and content. For this we need to substantially increase investments in knowledge institutions and infrastructure and focus on what our students need to build their future. 

The writer is chairman of the knowledge commission