[Assam] A Knowledge-Based Economy for Rural Assam-HN Das(The Sentinel, 25.10.2007)

[Buljit Buragohain]

A Knowledge-Based Economy for Rural Assam
HN Das
Knowledge has been described in Webster’s dictionary as “the sum of what is known: the body of truth, information and principles acquired by mankind.” Knowingly or unknowingly, knowledge has been used, transferred and transformed for the welfare and advancement of different communities ever since the dawn of civilization. The remains of various civilizations and the socio-cultural practices followed since ancient times bear testimony to this. In the past half-a-century, there seems to have been a spurt, almost an explosion, of knowledge which has surpassed in magnitude and dimension, if not in significance, even the Renaissance of the 15th century and the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. This has resulted in a sea change in the way people live and work. 
Knowledge has helped in creation and accumulation of wealth. Those nations which could absorb knowledge and transform their economies became really wealthy. They took advantage of the advances in science and technology. 
Meanwhile, the world has changed. A couple of examples will illustrate how the world has changed in the wake of newer and more powerful inventions. Four-and-a-half decades ago Boeing made their 727 jetliner. Each plane had millions of components. On a visit to the Boeing factory near Seattle, I marvelled at the way these airliners were built. My cousin, a doctorate in aeronautics and one of the topmost Boeing executives, showed me around the sprawling compound. The weight of the plane included half-a-tonne of metal shims used to join components together. As a result of technological improvements, shims are no longer necessary. Even otherwise planes have become lighter. The latest 777 Boeing jetliners are much bigger but comparatively lighter and more fuel-efficient. Super jumbo A380, which can carry up to 853 all-economy-class passengers, will be more efficient. Consequently airfares have dropped and the total number of passengers flying has increased dramatically.
In the case of computers, the hall-size one used by Robert Oppenheimer in the Manhattan Project for the atom bomb of early 1940s has given way to personal computers and laptops. Now palmtops are coming to the market. The fastest advances have been registered by cell phones. Cell phones today perform a variety of functions and are more efficient. The science of nanotechnology is inventing smaller and minute instruments for various uses. Similarly biotechnology is changing agriculture, horticulture, healthcare and a host of other activities. Life for the middle classes has changed beyond recognition. They are enjoying life better, in physical terms, than the richest in the past. Even for the poorer classes, quite a few gadgets and consumer durables have become available. Our living standards are going up as knowledge expands and the quality and efficiency of the factors of production improve.
Bill Gates had described only a part of it when he made the famous prediction that “business is going to change more in the next ten years than it has in the last fifty” in the very first sentence of his bestseller Business @ Speed of Thought. His reference was to the digital nervous system and particularly to the internet and the other scientific inventions in the field of information technology. But tremendous changes have taken place in many other fields of science since the end of the Second World War. 
So far, however, the recent explosion of knowledge has not been used to the extent possible for rural areas in India where 72.22 per cent of the people live and among whom 21.8 per cent still remain below the poverty line according to the latest Planning Commission estimates. In some of the advanced States, certain sporadic steps in this direction have been initiated. But according to NR Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited, India is “grossly unprepared” for “the knowledge economy”. According to Murthy, “our performance on a composite index that measures our ability to create, absorb and diffuse knowledge is 98 in a tally of 128 countries. This index is based on education, ownership of patents, copyright and access to knowledge economy tools such as computers and internet.” While the country itself is lagging behind, Assam is further behind.
The Government of India appointed a National Knowledge Commission (NKC) with Sam Pitroda as Chairman in 2005. The objective is the “development of a vibrant knowledge-based society. This entails both a radical improvement in existing system of knowledge and creating avenues for generating new forms of knowledge.” It has also been stated that “greater participation and more equitable access to knowledge across all sections of society are of vital importance in achieving these goals.” Elaborating on these objectives, Pitroda recently said that “the result of the Commission’s work will be visible in areas such as improved rural schools and libraries, better agricultural and medical research as well as improved access for small and medium-scale industries. Each of these areas has direct bearing on ordinary people’s everyday life.” 
The NKC has submitted 12 reports so far. One of the issues under its consideration is “envisaging the use of science and technology as a crucial tool for development and facilitating their use for solving problems of the poor and the underprivileged” (NKC Report, January, 2007). The Commission recently held a workshop at IIT-Guwahati to which I was also invited. Earlier, I paid a visit to their office in New Delhi.
Some feeble and spatially restricted attempts have been made in Assam in the past, through a few projects, to pass on knowledge to the rural people. These are essentially of extension education type. The Assam Branch of the Indian Tea Association’s Gramin Krishi Unnayan Prakalpa, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization, in 10 selected village-clusters cover a population of 1, 20,501 only. Similarly, the Aryabhatta Science Centres proposed to be set up by the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council in all 219 development blocks of Assam is yet to be operationalized. I personally feel that the most important step taken in this direction has been the setting up of the two science laboratories and the three knowledge centres in Gohpur cluster under the Choiduar Development Block. This has been possible with finance from the Centre’s scheme for Provision of Urban Services in Rural Areas (PURA). India’s former President APJ Abdul Kalam had suggested
 this scheme. PURA should spread to the other 218 development blocks of the State.
In order to absorb the changes in science and technology, it is imperative that the leaders of society should be properly initiated into the new developments in the relevant disciplines. This can be done only if the curriculum in the universities and schools are updated in step with the changes in ideas, theories and practices. The new batches of graduates then would be able to engage themselves in diffusion, transfer and transformation of knowledge to the rural people. 
(The writer was Chief Secretary, Assam, during 1990-95)
   
   
  (The Sentinel,25.10.2007)
   
  http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/
   



       
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