Celebrating 60 Years of Independence

This month we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our
independence. Recently, I was privileged to interview an 87 year-old freedom
fighter, Thangavel Mahalingam who had participated in the Quit India movement
and spent two years in the Alipuram prison. When I asked him what he thought of
India today, he replied: "Our country has changed. No one cares about
freedom anymore!" It made me wonderhave we truly progressed, especially
in the technical sector? Do we really care about freedom and independence in our
careers? Are we truly free?

Development Vs Growth

Bangalore is called the Silicon Valley of India. This is a misnomer as
the Silicon Valley in the USA created and manufactured new products for the
world. Most techies in Bangalore and elsewhere in India work in "highly
paid" service jobs that require no innovation or production. This is also
true for most engineers in the manufacturing and energy sector where the same
thing is produced and reproduced again and again. If you doubt this statement,
ask yourself, how many new IT products have been created and produced by Indian
companies in our rise to "India is an IT superpower"? Ask yourself, as
a consumer, how many products from abroad do you use that are not made in India.
Does an Indian hold the copyright to a new robot that can detect bombs, maybe a
new software that helps disabled students learn in school or an emergency
response system installed in the country which will help co-ordinate services to
help the affected people? What about a bio-diesel or even a multiple fuel
automobile or water desalination and delivery system that operates on bio-mass
electric plants? What about a "Made in India" fully-fledged computer
game that is a worldwide success?

So, what we are going through is not development which would
make us leaders, rather an economical growth for a certain section of our
society, where we opt for jobs that offer maximum money for boring work. Growth
doesnt necessarily mean development. Even then, we spend time stuck in
traffic jams, idling in our AC "Made in Korea" or "Made in
Japan" cars, staring at our Swiss watches, and listening to the Chinese or
Korean sound systems. What we are essentially doing is getting trapped in
consumerism of "foreign" products. This is not wrong, but what we are
doing in essence is becoming hi-tech coolies who can afford good quality
products.

The tap of employment due to relatively cheap labor will and can
stay open only for a limited amount of time. Once people elsewhere can do the
job for lesser money, the tap will run dry. What do we do then? Do we try to go
abroad like we did twenty years before? Add to this the digital divide with over
600,000 villages that lack basic amenities including water and power, we are
talking economic growth for a section of the middle class, rather than Indian
development. This can be addressed only if we make products and find solutions
that can bridge the divide, and at the same time make money, which results in
true development. Currently, most work in the tech sector is essentially
sweat-shop work.

The University-Industry Disconnect

This doesnt mean we are not innovative. One look at various project
thesis submitted by final year BE students in engineering colleges all over
India, will prove that ideas are not only creative but doable. Unfortunately, it
is collecting dust in universities across India. This university-industry
disconnection needs to be addressed first if India plans to be a real force in
the global scenario. WLL phones is a case where university-industry collaborated
and resulted in the successful creation of a new product. This sort of
collaboration along with a whole new set of Indian entrepreneurs will alone make
India a technical power to reckon with in the global scene. Products we
manufacture should be able to address problems faced by people in developing
countries. This would mean a market of 3 bn-plus customers. Instead of looking
at the developed world as our market, Indians need to dust off research projects
and create products that sell to a much bigger market. We would not only be
improving our own earth but also making money.

Entrepreneurial Problems

While starting an industry in India is relatively easy today, lack of
product-oriented industries is proving to be a major problem. Most engineering
and technological companies are in the service and consultant sectors which
basically aregive me a project and pay me on completion. This is true
for manufacturing industries in the energy and transportation sector as well
because for entrepreneurs, this is much easier than developing a new product and
marketing it. Yet the latter is what has made the "new world"
countries like the US a "developed" nation. Without new product
creation, we would continue to be subcontractors and hi-tech coolies, however
much we sugarcoat it. So, if you are planning to start an industry, see if you
can manufacture a new product by dusting off the research in the academic
institution.

However, this also means we require change in existing laws.
Currently, Indian law doesnt allow declaring bankruptcy or enforce
stringently current copyright laws. This has to change and we need to use the
currency of votes to put pressure on our politicians and the government.
Complaining wont help neither will comparisons.

Indian venture capitalists are hard to find for entrepreneurs
based in small towns, as is the lack of diversification in family owned
businesses in India except for a few well-established firms that have been doing
business for decades.

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi made khadi for a reasonself empowerment. So, for true
Indian freedom in a global world, we need to become masters of our own destiny
and be able to create an India, where future generations can do even better. For
India to become a developed country, we need alternative energy, water
production and housing on a massive scale, simultaneously being environmentally
responsible. For those who say it cant be done, remember we invented the
numerical system and also have the only 2,000 year-old still functioning stone
dam in the world.

To bring about true development, we need to be entrepreneurs and
pioneers of new technologies and products. We also need to lead in future
technologies research like particle acceleration, robotics, aviation
development, defense, and space technologies, automobile and mass transport
technologies. While at the same time, work on cultural exports to create global
understanding.

In this 60th anniversary, let us re-dedicate ourselves as
technocrats to Indian development for the long term.

Deepa Kandaswamy

The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in