The Hindu : Reach technology to villages: Chidambaram

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 23, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Reach technology to villages: Chidambaram

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, JAN. 22. Stressing the need to utilise technologies for development, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre, R. Chidambaram, said today that the country could be termed "developed India" only when the quality of life in rural areas could be compared with that in the West.

Delivering the convocation address of the University of Mysore here, he said rural areas could be developed if technology was extended to them for which a large-scale industrialisation and downsizing of technology was needed.

Stressing the need for technology foresight to develop the country, he said that appropriate measures of development for a developing country were only per capita electricity consumption and female literacy. Electricity was essential to provide basic amenities such as safe drinking water, sanitation, and healthcare. With near 100 per cent literacy and without societal equity that was evidenced through gender non-discrimination, the fruits of science and technology would not fully reach rural areas, he added.

On the importance of technology, Dr. Chidambaram said that it would result in creation of national wealth, improve the quality of life of people, particularly those living in rural areas, and enhance national security. Choosing the right technology to put the nation on the path of rapid development required technology foresight.

On the critical technologies that India required, he said the country should continue to develop strategic technologies in nuclear, space, and defence sectors. Technologies related to energy security, food and nutritional security, health and water security, environmental security, advanced manufacturing and processing were also important to the nation.Dr. Chidambaram said, "technology is power, and this is true today more than anytime in history, and this will continue to be so in the future. Technology domination is sought both by companies and countries in fields as diverse as human genomics and strategic weapon systems.'' Warning that the country might be denied technologies that were commercially profitable and strategically important, he said that it should counter these attempts by becoming self-reliant. The concept of self-reliance should no longer be interpreted as self-sufficiency but as immunity against technology denial.

On the importance of technologies for rural areas, he said, "there is practically no technology needed for rural development that is not available among, or which cannot be developed by, Indian scientists or by the industry. The problem often is in transferring it or in downsizing it.'' The challenge was to establish synergy among all efforts that were often fragmented and needlessly duplicated. The Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi, and the Vice-Chancellor, J. Shashidhar Prasad, were present.

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Reach technology to villages: Chidambaram