PM says need to increase quality research in Science & Technology

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressing the Convocation ceremony of the IIT, Kanpur on July 03, 2010.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India urgently needed to increase quality research in science and technology, which today played a dominant role in determining the power and progress of a nation.

"This role has become even more critical in the wake of newer challenges like climate change," he said in his address at the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

Dr Singh was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor in Science on the occasion, which he described as an honour that he would always cherish.

He said India needed more innovation in areas like sustainable agriculture, affordable health care and energy security.

"India’s strength in frugal engineering and extremely affordable innovations is becoming known internationally. Indian scientists and engineers should leverage this strength to play a more prominent role in addressing problems that affect all countries of the world," he said.

He said that, to enhance the country's capabilities, the Government had tried to ensure that science and technology formed strong pillars of its strategic alliances with other countries.

He pointed out that the establishment of IIT Kanpur 50 years ago had marked the beginning of cooperation between India and the United State in science and technology. In the recently held meeting of the Indo-US Science & Technology Joint Commission, several important decisions had been taken to take this cooperation rapidly forward, he said.

The Prime Minister said that world-class institutions were needed for high quality research. More bright students should opt for resarch and more young men and women should acquire Ph.D. degrees, he said.

"These needs of our country exist not only in Science and Technology but across all areas of higher education. In the last five years we have expanded higher education facilities on an unprecedented scale. A number of new IITs, IIMs, and IISERs have been started. More than 300 degree colleges have been opened in selected districts. Government spending on higher education has been enhanced manifold," he said.

Dr Singh said the issue of quality, however, remained. He said a major constraint was the availability of good faculty and an obvious solution lay in encouraging a larger number of bright students to join academics. He said the IIT community must come together to also evolve other ways to address these issues.

He assured the IITs that the Central Government would do all that is possible to ensure that they functioned with the required degree of autonomy and flexibility and that the genuine needs of the IIT faculty were met.

The Prime Minister also dwelt at length on the ambitious programme set in motion by the Government to completely restructure the legal and regulatory environment of higher education.

He said intensive consultations were being carried out for setting up the National Council for Higher Education & Research. Several important bills have been introduced in the Parliament. These relate to accreditation, foreign universities, educational tribunals and unfair practices, he said.

Dr Singh said top institutions like the IITs should also apply their minds to the improvement of the overall public policy framework in the field of higher education.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that IIT Kanpur had, in the past few years, become associated with a number of projects which would greatly benefit the country in a range of areas

"We have just launched a new initiative in solar energy to be executed jointly by three Ministries of the Central Government and IIT Kanpur. I am told that the project would explore new ways of storage of solar energy and its conversion into electricity. The importance of such initiatives in energy cannot be over-emphasized given India's dependence on fossil fuel imports and the increasing demand for energy to meet the requirements of our growing economy," he said.

He said the Government had also launched a joint initiative of seven IITs for the development of a management plan for the National Ganga River Basin. IIT Kanpur has also been involved with important projects of the Indian Railways.

"The development of zero discharge toilet technology is a wonderful contribution not only to the railways but also to the Shikaras of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Similarly, the train tracking system that IIT Kanpur has developed should improve the efficiency and safety of our railways. There are many other critical areas where IIT Kanpur could contribute. I would urge the Institute, its faculty, staff and students to focus mere on projects and initiatives which are of immediate benefit to our country and our people," he said.

Dr Singh suggested that the IITs should collaborate more with each other in research projects. He also urged them to go in for far more collaboration with the corporate sector than had been seen in the past.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh planting a sapling, in IIT Kanpur Campus on July 03, 2010.

He said the alumni of the IIT system had done the country proud and noted that the peaking of the careers of the early batches of the IITs had broadly coincided with the new recognition and respect with which the world views India today.

"IIT alumni have helped immensely in this transformation of India's image, serving as excellent ambassadors for their country. Many of them are leaders in business and technology, both within our country and abroad. They have also enriched India’s public service," he said.

He referred to some illustrious IIT alumni such as Mr N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, economist Raghuram Rajan, Dr Subba Rao i public service, the late Prof Rajiv Motwani in computer science and Mr Ashok Kejriwal in the NGO sector.

"Your institute is well represented in my office too. There are three officers from IIT Kanpur in the Prime Minister’s Office today. Both my private secretaries are alumni of the IITs," he said.

Dr Singh reminded the graduating students of today that they must always bear in mind that the people of the country had partly paid for their education. He said the country was still burdened with persistent poverty, hunger and disease and that institutions like the IITs were islands of excellence in a sea of less endowed institutions.

"You must in some manner, however small it might be, give back to the society and the people who have nurtured you," he added.

NNN