Ignited Minds Read online

  Dr Mahalingam replied, ‘I have analysed the Tamil scripts used in the last Sangam, which was 2,500 years ago. Now I would like to do research on the Tamil scripts used in the first Sangam which existed 5,000 years ago!’ It was another reminder to me that visionaries don’t age.

  In the case of industry, in 1960, 11 per cent of the population was engaged in small- scale and large-scale industries. The trend continued with 11 per cent even in 1992. However, it has to increase to 25 per cent in 2010, bearing in mind the envisaged GDP growth and increased competition as trade restrictions are lifted under the WTO. The pattern of employment will take a new shape. Employment in the service or knowledge industry has increased from 15 per cent in 1960 to 27 per cent in 1992. And it will further increase to 50 per cent in view of infrastructure maintenance areas and IT sector and entertainment demands. This big change will demand more trained personnel. Our leaders in commerce and industry have to prepare themselves for the transformation.

  The fact that there is net migration from the villages to cities shows the disparities in living standards between the two. Ideally, both rural and urban areas should be equally attractive with no net migration either way. Near zero net rural—urban migration is a mark of development. How can we achieve that happy balance? Rural development is the only solution. This means providing rural areas with the amenities that are currently available only in cities. This would generate employment on the same scale, and at the same level, as in the cities in the rural areas too. The other challenge would be to provide these benefits at a small fraction of the financial, social, cultural and ecological costs the cities have to bear.

  It is the expectation that this combination of generating employment bearing in mind environmental factors will make rural areas as attractive as cities are, if not even more attractive. Then, rural development may be expected to prevent, if not actually reverse, rural—urban migration. Hence, PURA aims at integrated physical, electronic knowledge and economic connectivity.

  Experience in India has demonstrated that the true handicap suffered by rural areas is poor connectivity and little else. Linking together a loop of villages by a ring road and high-quality transport may rectify that lacuna. Villages thus linked would also provide a large enough market to support a variety of services, which they would not be able to do individually. The ring road and the transport service together can convert the linked villages immediately into a virtual town with a market of tens of thousands of people. Such an area, which would also possess state-of-the-art telecommunication connectivity, will have a high probability of attaining rapid growth by setting up a virtuous cycle–more connected people attracting more investment, and more investment attracting even more people and so on. Basically, this involves selecting a ring of villages; connecting the villages on the ring by establishing a high-quality transport and telecommunication system; encouraging reputed specialists to locate schools, hospitals and other social services around the ring; marketing this well-serviced space to attract industry and commerce; and Internet connectivity.

  The model envisaged a habitat designed to improve the quality of life in rural places and made special suggestions to remove urban congestion. Naturally our most intractable urban problem is that of congestion. Efficient supply of water and effective waste disposal in every locality are the paramount civic needs. There is a minimum size below which a habitat is not viable and not competitive with the existing congested city. At the same time, the existing congested city is not economical compared to a new town once a minimum size of expansion is crossed. As against a conventional city that is, say, rectangular in shape and measuring 10 km by 6 km, the model considers an annular ring-shaped town integrating minimum eight to ten villages of the same 60 square km area, and the same access distance of 1 km to transport arteries. It needs only one transportation route of a distance half that needed for the rectangular- shaped city, so frequency of transportation will be doubled, halving waiting times. It has zero number of junctions and needs only one route as against eight needed for the rectangular plan, so people will no longer need to change from one line to another. That saves transport time. Further, as all traffic is concentrated on one single route, high-efficiency mass transportation systems become economical even for a comparatively small population. This cuts costs substantially and is more convenient for the people.

  Rural development is an essential need for transforming India into a knowledge superpower and high bandwidth rural connectivity is the minimum requirement to take education and healthcare to the rural areas. Roadmaps for development of certain areas have been generated and we have to work on their realization.

  There was an invitation by Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group of companies, to visit Telco at Pune, particularly to witness the challenge of designing, developing and manufacturing in the country a fully Indian car, the Indica. The prospect of the visit excited me. I thought I would get an answer to some questions that I have been asked on many occasions.

  In 1980 when our team in ISRO launched the satellite launch vehicle and put Rohini into low-earth orbit, it was a big event for the nation. On 4 January 2001, when I saw the first prototype fighter aircraft, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), designed and developed indigenously by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), taking to the skies, again India was described as one of the few countries to have acquired capabilities in this sophisticated field. This is the result of intensified networking between R&D laboratories, industry, academic institutions, users and the government.

  Ratan Tata told me during the visit about his vision of making India a global player in the automobile sector. To implement his vision, he decided to acquire car manufacturing units from many countries rather than set them up here at considerable expense in terms of money and time. He looked towards manufacturing five times the present levels so that they could graduate to being globally competitive. This is a beautiful idea. I would add that Indian industrial complexes should become consortia as a first step and then envision becoming multinational companies.

  I and my team are invited by a number of scientific, industrial, academic and management institutions to share our experiences in the pursuit of some of the national tasks I have mentioned. One question that came up during my interaction with students in Mumbai rings in my mind even now.

  ‘Dr Kalam, we are very happy to see that India can build and produce its own SLVs and satellites, its own strategic missiles as also nuclear weapons and power stations. Can you tell me when India will design and produce its own passenger car with an Indian engine?’

  When I was going through the design, manufacture of component, sub-assembly, integration and testing plants at Telco and was told that the company is producing about 60,000 cars annually, I was reminded of this question. I was not only witnessing the answer to it but also the technological strength of our nation.

  I had another opportunity to see a concept take shape when Wipro invited me to participate in a function to mark the commissioning of a mobile heart care clinic at Bangalore in October 2000. This was a collaborative effort of Wipro-GE, Care Foundation and Klenzaids. My friend Arun Tiwari and I provided the system concept for the project. It was a great experience for me. After the inauguration I visited the Wipro-GE Centre that builds specialized medical equipment using advanced technologies. As soon as I entered a young man approached me and pinned a national flag on my shirt. I shook his hand and asked him, ‘Young man, will you stay and work for this country?’

  He replied, ‘Dr Kalam, I am in the profession of working on medical gadgets that are used for diagnosis. I am committed to a profession in which one tries to remove pain. I am needed here.’ I was delighted by his answer. The centre itself struck me as a positive collaboration between two nations in the field of healthcare.

  After the programme, Azim Premji, who heads Wipro, accompanied me to the DRDO guest house. On the way, he explained how he was trying to assist elementary schools in Karnataka so that more children cou
ld be brought into the classroom. As we were having tea at the guest house, I asked him, ‘How has Wipro reached its high stature in the business world?’

  Premji gave a remarkable answer. ‘Dr Kalam, I can say there are three aspects that come to my mind. One: Sweat for generations and the hard work of teams. Two: In Wipro we work for the customer’s delight. Three: A bit of luck. The third point will not be of any consequence if the first two aspects are not achieved. In Wipro, what we have tried to do is wealth generation with social concern.’

  A common thread runs through the experience of these institutions. It is that we can deliver high-technology systems in spite of control and denial regimes. The presence of a competitive environment, networking capabilities, wealth generation with social concern and above all ignited minds of the young: these are all very important ingredients for building a knowledge society.

  Maharishi Patanjali said in the Yogasutra, ‘When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.’

  That is something addressed to all of us. It is the people of a nation who make it great. By their effort, the people in turn become important citizens of their great country. Ignited minds are the most powerful resource on earth, and the one billion minds of our nation are indeed a great power waiting to be tapped.

  SUMMARY

  Ancient India was a knowledge society that contributed a great deal to civilization. We need to recover that status and become a knowledge power. We must learn from our mistakes to achieve a better standard of life. A developed India will supplant a spirit of defeat with the spirit of victory.

  7

  Getting the Forces Together

  Determine that things can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.

  —Abraham Lincoln

  As our experience reveals, progress is rapid wherever there is an efficient administrative set-up, a high level of education and minimum political interference in development activity. To me, development is a security-centric phenomenon–from poverty to food security, social security and thereafter national security. In India 2020, we have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action.

  First among these five is agriculture and food processing, where we have to set a target of 360 million tonnes of food and agricultural production. Agriculture and agro food processing, particularly by way of value addition, would bring prosperity to the rural people and speed up economic growth.

  The second area is power. A reliable supply of electricity in all parts of the country is a must.

  The third area is education and healthcare. Here we have found that education and healthcare are interrelated. For example, Kerala with high literacy and better healthcare could bring down the rate of population growth and improvement in the quality of life in the state. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu too we have seen a fall in the birth rate that is linked to these factors. Studies in Andhra Pradesh indicate a similar trend. These trends need to be replicated in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where levels of population growth remain high.

  The fourth area is information technology. This is one of our core competencies and holds the potential to rapidly transform backward areas, besides promoting education and generating wealth.

  The fifth area is the strategic sector. This area, fortunately, has witnessed growth in areas like nuclear, space and defence technology.

  Action in these five areas, properly integrated, would lead to food, economic, social and national security. A strong partnership between the research and development institutions, universities, industry and the community as a whole with the government departments and agencies will be essential to accomplish the vision. The key to success lies in connectivity.

  The development of education and healthcare will yield the benefits of smaller families and a more efficient workforce. It is the key to employability and social development. Improvements in the agricultural sector, including that of food processing, would lead to food security, employment opportunities and rapid economic growth. Growth in the information technology sector would assist rapid economic growth as well as play an important part in speeding up development. Electric power provides energy security so crucial for all sectors. The strategic sector has a direct impact on industry, sustaining growth and technological strength. For balanced development, all the five areas are of importance. The combined effect of these five areas would result in GDP growth rising from present 6 per cent to 10 per cent and the lives of 300 to 400 million people who are presently living below the poverty line would be significantly improved.

  I worked with TIFAC teams in three areas–agriculture, advanced education and rural connectivity. In doing so, I drew on my earlier experiences in the mission areas of sugar, fly ash and composites. With Prof. S.K. Sinha, a renowned agricultural scientist, TIFAC took up a project to enhance agricultural productivity in central Bihar and eastern India. Six villages in one and nine villages in the other region were selected during the kharif season of 1998. The system approach consisted of soil analysis, seed choice, cultivation season, fertilizer selection and training to the farmers. This intensive collaboration of scientists and farmers resulted in substantial increase in wheat yields, which rose from 2.5 tonnes per hectare to nearly 5 tonnes per hectare. When I and Y.S. Rajan visited a few villages where this system approach is used, we found the farmers showing an interest in new issues like equipment for faster harvesting, storage facilities and marketing and banking systems. It was clear that a small team, cutting across various departments, could work wonders even in a difficult region, achieving results in a cost- and time-effective way.

  Another experiment under way is REACH (Relevance and Excellence in ACHieving new heights in education institutions). The purpose of this mission is to establish 80 to 100 centres that follow common academic programmes and share the commitment to achieve excellence. In this endeavour, they work together by interchange of faculty and joint research as need be. As part of this, Centres of Relevance and Excellence (CORE) have been established in Patiala, Dibrugarh, Mumbai, Thanjavur and Surat in the areas of agro and industrial biotechnology, advanced computing and information processing, petroleum reservoir engineering, industrial safety, environmental engineering and herbal drugs. Our experience in the REACH programme is that industries are willing to participate in specialized areas of their interest and they are also willing to invest about 40 per cent of the total expenditure in establishing CORE. In return, they will benefit in terms of skilled manpower and access to the results of research. The willingness of industry to be partners in technology development and education has helped our confidence a great deal. It was also satisfying to see Dr M.S. Vijayaraghavan, Adviser in the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, blossom into a leader in the integrated learning system. His innovation was to bring the commitment of industry to the learning programme.

  Another example relates to the programme for rural connectivity evolved under the leadership of Prof. P.V. Indiresan, who was formerly Director of IIT Madras. As mentioned earlier, the fact that there is net migration from villages to cities indicates that they offer more opportunities, and the only way to equalize the flow is to develop the rural areas and bring life there on par with that in the cities. Once employment opportunities increase there, as do the amenities available, as per the model created by Prof. Indiresan, rural development may be expected to prevent, if not actually reverse, rural—urban migration. Presently, several technologies exist to make this possible, provided we use the connectivity approach in various areas.

  For the rural development programme called PURA, we have introduced the concept of dynamic connectivity of four types called PEEK: Physics, Electronics, E
conomics and Knowledge connectivities. One more important need is IT-driven telemedicine.

  In May last year, I visited the CARE Hospital in Hyderabad. The whole place had been geared up for a telemedicine trial and the hall was full of doctors, communication engineers, computer scientists and software experts. Patients were to be tested and advised through telemedicine. The patients would undergo electrocardiography and tests for liver functioning. The novel thing was that the patients were in a distant place, but the diagnosis would be done in Hyderabad.

  The doctors and the patients interacted via satellite. The ECG data was exchanged with high-resolution image transfer and clinical information provided in real time. I could see the ultrasound images of liver and heart functioning of the patients coming from a faraway hospital as specialists gave their opinion. It looked like a very promising way to offer healthcare services in places that did not have the medical facilities of a large city. Telemedicine could take advanced medical technology to the rural villages and help link up primary health centres, area hospitals, district hospitals and speciality hospitals in the state capitals. To me it was fascinating to see how it brought together engineering and medical science to treat a patient irrespective of distance, using advances in satellite communication and transmission of data.

  It was in 1990, on a recommendation of a friend of mine, that I visited Aravind Eye Hospital at Madurai for an eye check-up and treatment. Upon entering I saw an orderly queue of patients awaiting their turn and joined it. The queue was a long one but it was moving fast and within half an hour I was being examined by Dr G. Natchiar and recommended treatment. That done, I went to deposit the money for admission to the hospital. However, I had trouble paying at the counter as the girl there refused to accept a cheque, and I had no cash. I went to Dr Natchiar again and told her my predicament. She considered briefly and agreed to admit me. I was treated and discharged after a few days. A few days later, I received a letter from Dr Natchiar apologizing for not having recognized me. She came to know only when my security personnel enquired about me at the hospital after my discharge.