OneWorld.net (U.S.)

The Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture, an annual event organised by TERI in memory of the institute’s founder, Mr Darbari Seth, was delivered this year by Dr Sam Pitroda, the Chairperson of the National Knowledge Commission in New Delhi on 5th August, 2005. Presided over by Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, the event saw a hall packed with attentive listeners who included professionals from NGOs and the corporate sector, academicians, journalists, and so on.

Dr Pitroda, who is also the Chairman of the WorldTel Limited, UK, spoke on the subject of ‘Knowledge opportunities’ and keenly expressed his desire that all Indians have access to path-breaking knowledge. Knowledge, he said, must become a kind of a movement in the country. The architect of the present PCO network in India, Dr Pitroda said it was time India revolutionised its education, both primary and secondary, as well as its public administration systems through technological advances. Technology, he said, could build bridges between the masses and knowledge systems. Broadband, internet portals, satellites, and so on could help revamp education and thereby allow India to be truly a part of the globalisation sweepstake that was currently shaking the world. Recalling his childhood days in Orissa, he said that with the advent of internet and opportunities like open source, it was easier to bridge gaps now.

Expanding further, Dr Pitroda called upon the intellectuals of the country and urged them to ‘look for new methods of knowledge, new society, new sources of knowledge’ to produce ‘brilliant brains…who can not only bring good name to the country but they can create history in the world'. Classrooms with chalks, blackboards and other teaching aids, according to him, should be relegated to the corridors of the past, and a new approach to world-class education be adopted. Since knowledge was being produced at break-neck speed, India has to catch up rather swiftly.

Talking about his plans as Chairperson of the National Knowledge Commission, he said that the Commission shall try to tackle all five dimensions of knowledge, i.e., access to knowledge, concepts of knowledge, creation of knowledge, innovations, and application of knowledge. To move towards the knowledge society of the future, he emphasised the importance of increased access to various kinds of information and the simplification of procedures involving ration cards, bank accounts, and other essential government services. Along with these, the sine qua non of the 21st century will be a knowledge-hungry mindset.

Source: TERRAGreen