India 2020 Part 1

INDIA 2020.

A Vision for the New Millennium.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

With Y.S. Rajan.

After one of his talks delivered by Dr Kalam, a tenyearold girl came up to him for his autograph. 'What is your ambition?'

he asked her. 'I want to live in a developed India,' she replied without hesitation. This book is dedicated to her and the millions of Indians who share her aspiration.

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If those who think to achieve, Have a firm and focused mind, They will realize what they thought of, And even as they have thought of.

Thirukkural.

Acknowledgements.

In writing this book, our ideas have been shaped by several hundred Indianssome very well known. Each interaction enriched our experience and added a new dimension to understanding India's developmental needs and actions required. It is difficult to list every name. First and foremost, we are thankful to the Chairpersons and Cochairpersons of the various Technology Vision 2020 Task Forces and Panels as well as the coordinators and the key TIFAC persons who helped in the whole Vision 2020 exercise.

Their names are listed in an Appendix to this book. In addition, the members of the Governing Council of TIFAC continue to be a source of encouragement. There are many members of the Technology Vision 2020 Task Forces, Panels, recently const.i.tuted Action Team members and the staff of TIFAC. We thank them for their dedicated work. Results of their work have been the source of a number of useful inputs in writing this book. We thank Prof V.S. Ramamurthy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, for the encouragement and the permission given to use the material from TIFAC reports.

While embarking on this journey of writing a book, we realized the magnitude of various detailed activities starting with the ma.n.u.script. The book would not have taken this shape without the sincere, untiring and dedicated effort put forth by H. Sheridon, beyond his long office hours. His laptop computer was always busy for the past several months. We also thank Krishna Chopra of Penguin Books for his excellent project management in shaping the book to its final form.

Y.S. Rajan would like to thank his wife Gomathi, who has been a great source of strength through her affection and tender care and through the candid expression of her insights into reallife situations.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam would like to place on records his thanks to the thousands of Indians who write to him on several occasions and inspire him to undertake several technological tasks for India.

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Preface.

Both of us were born when India was still struggling for her Independence. One was in the final year of school when Jawaharlal Nehru made his famous speech about India waking up to make her tryst with destiny the other was a child speaking a first few words. Our families were not known for riches or power. Destiny in the form of the progressive measures taken by independent India to harness science and technology in order to develop a modern nation brought us together.

It was the vision of Vikram Sasrabhai, supported by Nehru and Homi Bhabha, which gave us the opportunity to work on the s.p.a.ce programme. The programme was aimed at carrying developmental messages into homes all over the country, especially in the 6 lakh villages, by leapfrogging many traditional routes. The programme also aimed at surveying the natural resources of the country so that they could be harnessed to benefit our people. Many in India must have considered these objectives an unattainable dream in the early 60's when the s.p.a.ce programme was born. We, however, along with many of our colleagues, saw these aims as a vision real and attainable. What followed was a shared mission. Every person in Is...o...b..lieved that they were born to realize all that s.p.a.ce technology can bring to the country and its people.

For us, then, there was no going back. There were days and nights o work. Many failures and a few hardwon successes. The system which were designed, developed, fabricated and tested were directed towards a common goala strong India, a developed and proud India with the benefits available all over the country. It is gratifying to note the vision, in relation to s.p.a.ce technology, has come true now especially in terms of reaching out to the people providing communication through networks in remote areas disaster warning systems quick resource surveys to target ground water, save our forest cover and so on. And, of course, in areas of certain strategic strengths, vital to India in a world which respects only strength.

We are also proud and happy that dreams of many Indians in the agricultural, scientific, artistic, cultural and social fields have also come true. However, the vision of a

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prosperous India without poverty, an India strong in trade and commerce, an India strong in many fields of science and technology, an India with innovative industry and with health and education for all, has remained just partially realized. In some areas, in fact, pessimism has taken deep roots.

We have completed the fiftieth year of our independence, with a large majority born after independence. Every year about twenty million Indians are being added to the nation. What vision can they have? Should we, like some, question the very concept of development and leave our people to the same condition of stagnation which existed there for centuries? Or think only of the upper strata of society and leave the rest to their fate, employing such nice sounding phrases as 'market driven strategies' and 'compet.i.tiveness'? Or leave the initiative to various globalizing forces? Where should we see India (and its people) going in the next two decades? In the next five decades? And more?

The authors were fortunate to have been a.s.sociated with a large number of persons who were interested in posing these questions and finding some answers. These came substantially through a novel organization, the Technology Information, Forecasting and a.s.sessment Council (TIFAC), which launched a major exercise called Technology Vision for India up to 2020.

About 500 experts with unique experience in industry, Academic, laboratories and government administration were deeply involved in the exercise. Experts and socially aware persons also partic.i.p.ated. About 5000 people contributed indirectly through responses to questionnaires and other inputs.

Subsequently, while the teams deliberated on various issues and the draft reports, and later when the report was released by the Prime Minister on 2 August 1996, we had numerous opportunities to interact with many others about a vision for India. We had the benefit of various inputs ranging from encouraging suggestions for specific actions to pessimistic comments about the inability of systems to act on anything focused and long term. We traveled widely to interact with different sections of people in variegated parts of the country. We also reflected on the imperatives for India in changing world.

We are aware of our systems of governance and social and political compulsions. We are fortunate to have gained experience in implementing projects involving people of

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various strata as beneficiaries, as well as projects entailing strong commercial pressures and those that are high profile, such as a satellite or a launch vehicle or project. The execution of these schemes provided varied experiences, which worked as base line knowledge for the shaping of this book.

Having taken these factors into account and after studying several vision reports of India and other countries, we still believe firmly that India can reach a developed country status by 2020. The Indian people can rise well above the present poverty and contribute more productively to their country because of their own improved health, education missile and selfesteem. India can have considerable technological strengths, so crucial for its strategic strengths and for economic and traderelated strengths.

In this book we have attempted to share some of these thoughts. We have also disclosed elements of a few action plans, which can be missions for many young people in the country. We hope that these will help to stimulate young Indians and ignite their minds in the same way that we were ignited by the s.p.a.ce programme three decades ago.

Our vision ahead for the country and the missiles we see before us make us feel young even now.

A developed India, by 2020 or even earlier is not a dream. It need not even be a mere aspiration in the minds of many Indians. It is a mission we can we can all take up and accomplish.

Ignited young minds, we feel, are a powerful resource. This resource is mightier than any resource on the earth, in the sky and under the sea. We must all work together to transform our 'developing india' into a 'developed india', and the revolution required for this effort must start in our minds.This book,2020,will hopefully be the source for igniting many minds.

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Chapter 1.

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Can India Become a Developed Country?

All the brothers of the poor despise him, how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

Old Testament proverb 19:7 What makes a country developed? The obvious indicators are the wealth of the nation, the prosperity of its people and its standing in the international forum. There are many indicators regarding the wealth of a nation: the gross national product (GNP), the gross domestic product (GDP), the balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, rate of economics growth, per capita income, etc. In addition, the volume of trade, the share in international trade(both imports and exports)and rate of growth in both of these also provides an idea about the strength of economy and its ability to sustain the wealth created and to create more .Economic indicators are important, but they provide only a part of the picture, The numbers, impressive though they may appear, can veil considerable human misery, especially that of the common people, in this context, I and rajan have often discussed something I observed during my stint at the defence research& development laboratory(DRDL), hyderabad. I came across three persons there who became in my mind points of reference that called me back unceasingly to certain issues. Venkat had two sons and a daughter. All were graduates and employed. Living in the same area was kuppu who had tree sons. He succeeded in educating oniy one. He lived in a rented dwelling.Karuppan had two daughters and one son. He was semi employed. Could not educate any of them because of proverty, and had no regular dwelling place. Was it not possible for him to merely give a normal life to his offspring and not an unrealistic or extraordinary one? A reasonable lifespan, an occupation that would provide them basic comforts and good health care? This is our dream of a developed India.

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Per capita income can indicate the wealth in the hands of people. Per capita income dose not indicate that they all have the same amount of money .It is the average of the rich and poor. The same per capita figure also does not indicate the amount of well being within acountry or even within a state or region. For purposes of global comparisons, a new parameter, such as purchasing power parity, is nowadays being used. Complex models are also being discussed, debated and used as indices of human development. All of them only present certain facets of living conditions. These statistics do not indicate the longterm sustainability of the quality of life achieved by people.

People and development Many parameters are utilized to indicate how well people are fed their overall nutritional status the availability of good nutrition during various phases of their growth and lives the average life expectancy the infant mortality rate the availability of sanitation the availability of drinking water and its quality the quantum of living s.p.a.ce broad categories of human habitat the incidence of various diseases, dysfunctions, disorders or disabilities the access to medical facilities literacy the availability of schools and educational facilities various levels of skills to cope with fastchanging economic and social demands and soon.

One can include many other indicators of the quality of life. Still there is a nagging worry when we apply the talisman prescribed by Gandhi. Gandhiji's strikingly simple criterion was that every action proposed or contemplated, should in its implementation wipe the tears of a poor and downtrodden person. He emphasized that only when we have wiped the tears from the faces of all, have we truly arrived as a nation.

Even when one applies the much less stringent Nehru vian vision for the elimination of ignorance, illiteracy, poverty, disease and inequalities in opportunities, the task of realizing such a vision through the mission a that would follow appears difficult.

They did not appear difficult at the time of our independence. Most Indians were ignited by the vision of our tryst with destiny. Are we as nation still inspired with that vision after fifty tears? We are not unaware of the growing pessimism and even cynicism when one discusses the question of India reaching the status of a developed nation. We believe,

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moreover, that while aggregated indicators are important, it dose not make sense to achieve a 'developed' status without a major and continuing upliftment of all Indians who exist today and of the They should all have a secure and many more millions who would be added in the years to come .

enjoyable 'present' and also be in a position to look forward to a better 'future'. Such a developed India is what we are looking for.

I was in my teens when India became independent. The headmaster of my school used to take us to hear the news on the only available radio. We used to hear of the events in Delhi, and many speeches and commentaries. I used to distribute the morning newspaper Dinamani to households in Rameswaram, to help my brother with his work.

While going on my daily morning round I also read the news items. One report, which particularly struck me, appeared in the heady days following independence. It was a time of celebration and the country's leaders were gathered in Delhi, addressing themselves to he momentous tasks that faced the government. At this moment, however, far from being at center of power, the father of the nation, mahatma Gandhi, was away in Nathalie caring for the riot victims and trying to heal the wounds inflicted by communal rioting.

How many person would have such courage of conviction, as did Gandhi at a time when the nation was at his command? It is that kind of deep and unshakeable commitment to the well being of all Indians that underlie the vision of a developed India. Strategic strengths The achievement of independence was of utmost importance to us. The implications of subservience to another power remain as abhorrent today in this era of economic rather than military domination. Globalization, which means integration with the world economy, brings the influence of external forces into our society. Some experts may point out that these are economic or trade or market forces and they have beneficial influence in terms of developing our 'core competencies' in areas in which we have 'comparative advantage'. We also share the view that compet.i.tion, both internally and with other global players would be useful to make the country efficient and strong. But We would also like to point out that developed countries have set up several nontariff barriers which strike at the roots of 'ideal' compet.i.tion based on 'market' forces. These are mostly aimed at denying opportunities to other countries to reach a developed status.

Even when one country prepares to cope with a set of barriers introduced by these

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developed countries, either through their own laws or though multilateral treaties, a new set of complex barriers crops up. Even a simple a.n.a.lysis of many of these international or global transactions indicates a much deeper fact: the continuous process of domination over others by a few nations. India has to be prepared to face such selectively targeted actions by more powerful players even when it tries to march ahead to realize its vision of reaching a developed status.

Issues of national security are no longer simple considerations of defence but are closely intertwined with many aspects of trade, commerce, investment as well as creation and use of a knowledge base. What appears to be emerging is a new kind of warfare. If a country does not learn to master these new realities of life, all our aspirations to ensure the prosperity of our people may come to naught. This dose not means the advocacy of isolation or going back to concepts of a nutsandbolts form of selfreliance. We need to address newer and more sophisticated concepts of protecting our strategic interests.

I recently spoke on our vision of our security. I said,'a nation is made great by its people, and people in turn nonstrategic systems for defence (strategic systems will not be available), a nation will not be able to defend both its economic freedom and security as this will only perpetuate the dependence on other nations. A country's strength to protect its security and evolve an independent foreign policy is dependent on the degree to which the nation is able to underpin this with selfreliance in defence and defence systems.

Indian's core competence in certain technological areas and scientific technological manpower has to be harnessed. Through our sustained efforts for growth of core competence and selfreliance in critical technologies, we can transform our nation. We have to recognize that technology is the tool that brings faster economic growth and needed inputs for national security. The successful experience of certain technological leaders reveals that we have to demand from our inst.i.tutions the impossible, and the possible will emerge.'*

A developed India should be able to take care of its strategic interests through its internal strength and its ability to adjust itself to the new realities. For this it will need the strength of its healthy, educated and prosperous people, the strength of its economy, as well as strength to protect its strategic interests of the day and in the long term.

*(Extracted from the USI national security lecture 1996,delivered by A.P.J. Abdul kalam

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