Lessons learnt, time to act

G. Krishna Kumar

Hindu Business Line , Opinion/Perspective
(This article was published on August 10 2013)

Our disaster preparedness is woefully inadequate.

It is unfortunate that Uttarakhand had to face landslides and flash floods yet again this week, hampering relief operations. Experts estimate that it will take between 3 to 10 years for the State to get back to “business as usual”. In many cases, when business leaves it may never return.

This crisis provides a major learning. While we can blame the government and officials for not enforcing regulations, people should equally share the responsibility.

We are unprepared

Post the Tsunami in 2004, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formed, but has grossly failed both in planning and implementation. NDMA and its subsidiary organisations need a major shake-up. We should get away from the NDMA versus State blame game and fix accountability.

The NDMA provides an online inventory of resources such as life-saving boats, critical medical supplies and other resources needed for disaster response in all the districts across the country. Even if we assume the data to be accurate, the meagre resources available are inadequate to handle even a minor calamity. Rudraprayag had 12 life-jackets.

Only one trauma specialist has been identified for the whole of Bangalore Urban and Rural. In Shimoga district of Karnataka, there are no doctors or paramedics identified. Considering India’s vulnerability, it is frustrating that there is no system for predicting cloud-bursts. As a first step, India needs top class weather forecasting systems. More awareness should be created among the public. Considering the mobile phone penetration in the country, a robust disaster alert and early warning system similar to the one in Japan must be implemented.

Learn from Japan

While natural calamities and rescue operations are covered extensively by the media, the same is not true for post-disaster recovery. Research reports on post-recovery challenges cite many examples where recovery led to further risk of disaster. Are there lessons learnt from the 2004 tsunami rebuilding?Maybe we should look at countries like Japan. Within 10 weeks of a major earthquake in Kobe, electricity and water connections were completely restored; infrastructure was rebuilt in two years.

In the case of Uttarakhand, will the environmental negligence continue? Will buildings and hotels continue to be rebuilt along the river or will good sense prevail? Many case studies point out that a healthy community once re-established will sustain itself over time.

Wake up

The UN’s HYOGO Framework for action (HFA) review report states that following disasters, the public puts greater pressure on administration, resulting in improved governance and accountability. The rebuilding efforts must take the environmental aspects into consideration; the participation of local communities is crucial. The Uttarakhand tragedy should serve as a wake-up call.

(The author is an engineering professional based in Bangalore. Views are personal.)

(This article was published on August 9, 2013)

Bangalore is swalpa kahi, jasthi sihi

G Krishna Kumar

The New Indian Express, 29th July 2013, Bangalore Edition

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be living in this city since birth. And it’s not just locals, but also people who move here from elsewhere, who fall in love with this city so much that Bangalore becomes their ‘home’ city for the rest of their lives.
Over the past few decades, I have seen this tranquil city transform into a cosmopolitan, yet slightly lazy city. We can attribute the laziness to the climate we enjoy.
I am not sure if any one with great foresight could have predicted such hyper growth. Bangalore is soon going to be in the 10 million population club. Isn’t it amazing that this city, home to about half a dozen public sector companies just three decades ago, has rapidly grown in many sectors providing job opportunities to so many people in diverse areas? It is overwhelming to see Bangalore continue to be the number one IT city in the country, despite all the infrastructural woes.
Bangalore is certainly a foodie’s paradise, especially if vegetarian. From darshinis, “western” looking vegetarian restaurants to the traditional city restaurants, Bangalore offers such wonderful variety of food that is hygienic and largely affordable. I am sure people who have travelled outside Bangalore, even to other states, would appreciate the food options in namma city.
Notwithstanding the recent garbage crisis, I have found Bangalore to be much cleaner compared to other metros in the country. Of course, we cannot compare Bangalore with Singapore. Yet, there is absolutely no doubt that BMTC (earlier BTS) buses are by far the cleanest in the country.
While most people complain about the traffic and pollution, I think these are unintended consequences of the growth we have witnessed. We are not Shanghai to impose restriction on people migrating into our city. Neither can we have any restriction on addition of new vehicles. Even the most organised city in the world has traffic woes. So, I think it is tad unfair to constantly complain about our traffic problems. I think we should live with this.
If I compare attitudes towards compliance with traffic rules in Bangalore with other cities in India, I can confidently say we are the best. But the big question is if this is good enough. Although the traffic police is doing a great job, we Bangaloreans should learn to be patient and be considerate to fellow motorists especially during traffic jams.
I hate to see two-wheelers using the footpath during traffic jams causing trouble to pedestrians and creating more traffic chaos.
While I find Bangalore a very peaceful place, it is rather unfortunate to see violence every time the news of a popular film star’s death is announced. This is very disturbing and maybe the police should be better prepared in handling such incidents going forward.
Bangalore is undoubtedly a great city. Of course, there are a few things needing improvement, but that’s fine. For me Bangalore is swalpa kahi, jaasthi sihi.
 

India's sub-standard engineering colleges

G. Krishna Kumar

Hindu Business Line, Editorial Page, June 10th

Engineering education remains IT-focussed and needs a broader framework with industry participation.

The world’s top 50 universities in engineering and technology in 2013 do not include any Indian university/college. The Higher Education World Reputation Ranking 2013 of top 100 institutions, has representation from all the BRIC countries, except India. We can conveniently blame it on bias, or simply ignore the global ranking. While the Government-run institutions have their share of challenges, the private institutes/universities, perceived to be a ray of hope, appear to be less interested in improving quality.

Employability, a challenge

Now, let us juxtapose the lack of quality institutions with another dimension — un-employability. There are over 2,500 engineering colleges in the country, producing over 7 lakh graduates every year. Notwithstanding the unpredictability, the IT Industry has remained the largest job provider over the past 15-20 years, absorbing about 10-15 per cent of the graduates. Hiring by public sector and non-IT private companies, and students pursuing higher education constitute 25-30 per cent. But, that still leaves a significantly large pool of engineering graduates without a proper job. The Industry Readiness Index 2013 survey by PurpleLeap, a company that provides skill bridging support for students pursuing engineering courses, indicates that only 10 per cent of the engineers passing out of colleges from Tier 2/3 cities in the country are employable. Even with the intervention programmes, the students struggle, primarily due to poor communication and/or analytical/problem-solving skills. Even worse, another report states that 30 per cent of the engineers do not have basic quantitative skills required for day-to-day life and entry-level engineering jobs.

India lags way behind China in terms of university research in engineering and technology. China, for example, has three times more enrolment for master’s programmes in engineering and management. India produces 1,000 PhDs annually in technology and engineering, compared to 8,000-9,000 in the US and China. It has to be noted that US and China have large well-funded universities that encourage higher education. The 2011 Kakodkar report emphasises the need for rapid improvement in research infrastructure in India, including the IITs.

So, what needs to be done to improve the situation? It is evident that active involvement and collaboration between government, engineering colleges/universities and industry is vital for improving the quality of engineers.

To fill up the vacant seats in private engineering colleges, the cut-off score for students seeking admission is being considerably watered-down. Added to this, many private colleges lack the intellectual infrastructure — comprising libraries, broadband connectivity for accessing knowledge resources on the Internet and, most importantly, qualified and knowledgeable faculty. Strict regulatory mechanisms should be implemented to ensure that only institutions with proper infrastructure are allowed to function.

Strict regulations

Simple things like monitoring the output from internship/project work should be strengthened. Strict measures are need for removing the rampant “paid” project work culture that is in vogue. It is appalling to see students get away by outsourcing their work.

The next most important step is to provide a clear road-map for the students with an inclination for research to pursue their interest. This would help in retaining the research-seeking graduates from going abroad. The effectiveness of government-funded schemes to promote research among engineering students through the Modernisation and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS) and the Research Promotion Scheme (RPS) is still unclear.

We need an environment that fosters active partnerships between industry and colleges/universities. In the advanced countries, research work is given high priority among the engineering colleges/universities. The teachers can lead by example and inspire students to pursue research and innovation.

The duration of the engineering course can perhaps be increased by six months or a year. This can help accomodate a sandwich/apprentice programme, which can provide hands-on work experience. For example, today, students get selected for project work/in-plant training through personal contact.

A transparent platform for monitoring and evaluating apprentice programmes should be created by involving industry — including private and public sector, and the universities. The Government’s latest initiative towards skill improvement through the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework (NVEQF) is certainly a good step. However, it may be worthwhile strengthening the existing well-funded National Skill Development Corporation, than creating new initiatives.

Look beyond IT

Although Nasscom predicts significant requirements in the IT industry over the next decade, it is vital that the Government looks at supporting altervative sectors and creating an efficient platform to manage the demand and supply of engineering graduates.

Reports indicate that manufacturing sector would grow significantly by 2025, fuelled primarily by the emerging economies. This could be an opportunity for India to take on China and emerge as a dominant player in, say, energy or semiconductor sector.

Why can’t government policies and best practices that helped in rapid growth of the IT industry be replicated in strengthening other sectors? AICTE/universities should upgrade the syllabus to be attuned with industry needs, especially in some of the core areas such as electrical and mechanical engineering.

It is, thus, imperative for the engineering education to grow beyond IT industry. A strong push is needed for strengthening industry-academia interaction in all the major sectors/streams. This would certainly spur innovation/research and help in improving employability among our next-gen engineers!

(The author is Vice-President, Symphony Teleca. The views are personal.)

(This article was published on June 10, 2013)

Don't let Doordarshan die

Hindu Business Line, Opinion Page 18th Feb 2013

G Krishna Kumar

Doordarshan may be a white elephant, but can be turned around on the lines of the BBC.

From just one channel, to over 700 channels, the Indian TV industry has come a long way. With 150 million households having TVs, India is the third largest market in the world after China and the US. During this unprecedented growth, Doordarshan has dramatically lost viewership, thanks to the satellite TV boom.

Although Doordarshan has achieved over 90 per cent reach in the country, it is not the preferred channel for people across the country who have a choice of channels. The story of AIR is no different. Private radio channels have been able to attract listeners quite effortlessly.

Such a phenomenon is not limited to DD/AIR. If we look at other fields that have witnessed private participation after Government monopoly, Government organisations like BSNL or Indian Airlines have miserably failed to retain their customer base, due to their lackadaisical attitude. It is a matter of survival for the private players, and hence they are competitive.

The recent news that Information and Broadcasting Minister has set up a committee under Sam Pitroda to suggest improvements in Prasar Bharati (which controls Doordarshan and AIR) is good to hear.

But recommendations of various committees in the past have yielded no result. What will change now? Can DD embrace the much-talked-about BBC model?

BBC Model

Globally, there are over 30 public service broadcasters (PSB), and most of them have built trust value with the public. The most popular PSB is undoubtedly BBC. In fact, UK is credited with pioneering the “arm’s length” relationship between the State and the public broadcaster. The BBC is autonomous and enjoys sufficient independence, preventing political or bureaucratic interference to a large extent. No wonder, BBC News has been the most trusted news source in the UK and across the globe.

Every TV owner in UK pays an annual licence fee. (This is much like the radio licence fee that existed in India long back). This fee is the main source of income for BBC as a PSB. In other parts of the world, PSBs are funded through a mix of licence fees, Government grants and advertisements.

BBC has managed to always stay ahead of competition through technology leadership. The latest financial report shows that over 70 per cent of the licence fee was spent directly on programmes, or the property and technology infrastructure to support their production.

BBC strives to deliver “value-for-money” to its audience through distinctive, high quality programmes. BBC’s PSB supports multiple national and regional TV channels/radio stations and an extensive website. BBC’s ability to provide innovative and distinctive content helps attract audience across age groups. For example CBBC and CBeebies, the flagship children’s channels are extremely popular even outside the UK. In addition to the public broadcasting channel, BBC has other channels that have different revenue streams.

Quality content

With this background, it looks like an overwhelming task to get DD anywhere close to BBC. However, with the right structural reforms which can reduce Government interference, there certainly is still hope.

It is shocking that DD has not learnt from other global PSBs who have managed to stay competitive in the presence of private players.

It is evident that DD lacks in-depth understanding of the changing market dynamics. This is the age of infotainment where information and entertainment are seamlessly integrated to attract audiences.

DD must focus on building trust with the people. It is not an easy task and may take several years. This would include some serious and sustained effort in creating high quality content that can connect with the public. This, coupled with strong marketing effort, is urgently needed. In addition, it is imperative that the DD re-skills existing employees and/or acquires the right talent.

Production quality must be improved with investment in infrastructure and technology. Why can’t DD tie-up with the best production houses in the country? Can DD champion mobile TV in India? DD’s presence in Internet and social media is absolutely miserable. But without good quality content, social media will be of limited use.

PSBs like DD have to fulfil social responsibilities, including strengthening national identity and culture.

DD conveniently ignores any comparison with private players due to the PSB tag. People look for entertainment value and the name of broadcaster hardly matters. Right now, even private channels are struggling to differentiate themselves from each other.

Can DD come up with a fresh idea by leveraging its exclusive access in Government offices and unmatched rich archives? DD can make a huge impact in the education segment. Although the idea behind UGC’s education programmes must be lauded, it failed to resonate among students due to below-par implementation.

Perhaps, DD could join hands with private players and provide creative programmes around education, career counselling, skill enhancements or language classes. How about coaching classes for IIT JEE or infotainment programmes for the agriculture sector? Regular audience feedback on the lines of BBC’s Appreciation Index (AI) score is absolutely essential.

Create alternate PSB

Reports suggest that the government spends close to Rs. 1,800 crore annually on Doordarshan, but DD’s revenue is about Rs 1,000 crore.

Where is the accountability? As long as Government funds DD, there is hardly any motivation for DD to be competitive or profitable.

The Government should gradually reduce funding and ask DD to come up with innovate ways of revenue generation.

Should the Government start charging a licence fee from TV owners? That’s the easy option. But why should public pay for mediocre content? Instead, Can DD should start a commercial channel that can compete with private players?

This should, in turn, fund public service broadcasting. Can DD become a navratna company by 2020? The other option is to create competition to DD by allowing another PSB in India. Some aggressive targets are needed for reviving this white elephant.

DD has a long way to go before it can emulate the BBC model. While we wait for Sam Pitroda committee’s recommendation with interest, the Government’s willingness to implement the recommendations will be the key. For a change, let’s hope the Government will surprise us with action.

(The author is Vice-President at Symphony Teleca. The views are personal.)

Transforming Education

ByG Krishna Kumar

Published: 20th December 2012 12:00 AM, Editorial Page

 

President Pranab Mukherjee’s recent comment that India is the poorest in terms of education, literacy and knowledge did not surprise the nation, neither did it evoke prime time TV debates. While India once boasted of excellent educational centres like Nalanda and Takshashila, it is embarrassing that even the premiere educational institutions in the country today are not among the world’s best. Although the education system at lower levels has seen improvement over the past decades, India still has the largest illiterate population and Human Development Index ranking is low compared with the BRIC nations.
The latest UNESCO adult and youth literacy report shows that India’s youth literacy (age group 15 to 24 years) and adult literacy (15 years and older) is the lowest when compared with the other BRIC countries.
A knowledge based society is much needed for a fast growing economy like India and it is proven that the positive externalities associated with education leads to economic and social growth. Perhaps some of the global trends in the education could help in transforming education in India. India’s tremendous progress in terms of technology and communication must be applauded. However, can the education system in the country be strengthened through ICT? The HRD ministry’s highly publicised ultra low cost tablet Akash tablet device aimed at students has not picked up for various reasons. A recent news report states that less than 600 Akash tablets have been distributed to students. For a moment let us assume that the government is able to fix the issues around quality and distribution and manages to reach the technology gadgets to lakhs of students across the country. Just providing Akash tablets by itself cannot create any miracle in the education system.
Although tablets are undoubtedly essential, there are two important aspects to be addressed. Good quality access to internet is vital — On this front, the government’s NTP-2012 (National Telecom Policy) envisions Right to Broadband as a key focus area. With 3G showing some signs of picking up and the right push from the government to improve broadband access even in rural India through NFON, connectivity issue is expected to be addressed.
The other aspect in terms of relevant educational content is absolutely critical and should be accorded paramount importance. Without the relevant educational content, tablet devices will become a mere gadget for entertainment and will defeat the sole purpose of subsidised tablets. There is certainly hope for generating the right educational content.
The latest trend in education is the MOOC or massive open online course; it is a tuition-free course taught over the internet to a large number of students. There are plenty of examples of highly popular education courses like the Khan Academy with the motto of a free world class education for anyone anywhere. The Khan Academy has delivered over 200 million lessons while another online portal Courseera has already registered close to 2 million students across the world. Courseera offers over 203 free courses from 33 colleges including Stanford and Princeton. In fact, many of the courses provide the same curriculum as on-campus courses. The MOOC model allows teacher and students to interact face-to-face and provide a forum for students to interact among themselves.
Students from all parts of the world participate in the courses and this provides an opportunity for cross cultural interaction. Similar to the traditional system, students receive grades based on their performance. edX and Udacity are among the other widely popular MOOC providers. The teachers are from some of the best universities in the world and the entire course comes free of cost to the student. In fact, Moshe Y Vardi in a recent report says that the enormous buzz about MOOC is not due to the technology’s intrinsic educational value, but due to the seductive possibilities of lower cost.
Reports suggest that many of the educated class in India, not limited to techies and even students are joining many of these interactive courses, taking tests and are gaining knowledge from the best professors around the world, which was hitherto unimaginable.
MOOC will excite students in higher education and the educated working class to enhance their knowledge. MOOC has the potential to disrupt both the traditional classroom based education system and the distance learning programmes.
It is obvious that the current MOOC courses are on generic topics and English knowledge is a pre-requisite. But what if the students are only proficient in a native Indian language and need to learn topics that are relevant to India? The MHRD should aggressively push for customised local content that is relevant for India by involving NEUPA, universities and eminent educationists across the country.
There is a huge potential for MOOC to address the large semi-literate population, comprising school/college drop-outs who have basic ability in reading and writing. In fact, a recent report states that the high school dropout rate is over 56 per cent in the country. Here again, courses based on local language and needs will play a significant role in addressing the semi-literate population in the country.
How about a course on customer orientation in a south Indian language? Here, the government should aim at creating indigenous content by working closely with the NSDC (National skill Development corporation) for creating and delivering effective courses. NSDC is a high visibility initiative aimed at fulfilling the growing need for skilled manpower across 20 high growth sectors. Innovative business models can be developed through a PPP model.
Awareness should be created and the courses can be offered at affordable fees much like the NSDC model. Also, a fee based model is needed to eliminate the no-so-serious learners. In addressing the educational needs across each segment of the society, it is imperative that the MHRD draws a clear road-map and course content development and delivery is meticulously planned and tracked with clear timelines.
MOOC certainly has the potential to strengthen the educational needs in the country. While availability of low cost computing devices like tablets and affordable broadband connectivity is important, availability of locally relevant and local language based courses will hold the key for an Indianised MOOC to be successful.
Views are personal.
G Krishna Kumar is Vice President at Symphony Teleca.

Government should protect mobile consumers

G Krishna Kumar | Updated: Nov 20 2012, Financial Express, FE Special

A cup of coffee or tea (depending on which part of India we live in) and a one-minute mobile phone call used to cost the same during the late 1990s. Remember the days when incoming calls were charged? All that has changed. And now, thanks to the paisa-fication effect, even inflation has no impact on tariff. India’s call rates are perhaps the lowest in the world and it is not surprising to see India ranked among the highest in minutes of use (MOU) compared to other global markets.
Along with attractive tariff rates, availability of phones and the ease of obtaining a phone connection have helped India witness unprecedented growth in the telecommunications market, leading to a tele-density of over 77%. This transformation in communication must be lauded. Now that the government is trying to maximise revenue through auctions, should we get ready for increased call tariff going forward?
It appears as if the government is obsessed with the R1.76 lakh crore loss (as noted by the CAG) and that the regulators are trying their best to reduce this loss through exorbitant spectrum pricing. There are arguments substantiating such high prices. But, can this be justified considering communication is an essential service and should serve the larger interest of the society?
Indian telcos are required to pay one-time spectrum charge, and this price is realised now through auctioning (earlier through administrative pricing) and an annual licence fee. Overall, regulatory levies in India are far higher compared to other parts of the world. While the Indian telcos end up paying 17-20% of the gross revenue they earn as tax, their Chinese counterparts pay about 3-5%.
Although the 3G auction held in 2010 resulted in the government landing a huge booty, the operators are still struggling as 3G service is yet to pick up momentum. All the mobile operators have stretched balance sheets, with debts running into thousands of crore of rupees. Reports indicate that the operators will continue to struggle as higher debts will significantly reduce the operators’ credit-worthiness, thereby bringing down their ability to raise money for future auctions. A report states that almost all the Indian mobile operators are loss-making. It is quite unclear if 3G uptake would turn them profitable or if the operators need to wait for efficiency due to mergers or acquisitions.
The response to the much-hyped 2G auction due to the cancellation of 122 licences has been muted, resulting in much lower revenue for the government, against the target of R40,000 crore. While there were no participants for CDMA auction, for GSM there were no bidders in four key circles. The base price for pan-India spectrum was set at R14,000 crore, and R18,200 crore for 1800MHz GSM and 800Mhz CDMA spectrum, respectively. This base price is 4-7 times higher when compared with the base price during the 3G spectrum auction held in 2010 or during Raja’s allotment to companies in 2008. The telecom regulator has justified the high price by citing that tariff would go up only by a few paise. However, a report by PwC shows that the tariff can go up by 90 paise in metros. In general, most analysis indicates an increase of anywhere between 25-50 paise per minute. This is quite substantial considering the current call rates and could reduce phone usage due to the highly elastic nature of the Indian market.
Due to intense competition, the average revenue per user (ARPU) for mobile operators is less than R100 and this is among the lowest in the world. The ARPU in advanced countries is over R1,500-2500, and even China’s ARPU is over R500. A news report indicates that the reserve spectrum price for the November 2012 2G auction is costlier by many folds, when compared with other countries, when ARPU is used to compute the purchasing power parity of operators.
In the book Telecom Revolution in India, Dr V Sridhar explains that the operators experienced “winner’s curse” during the 1995 spectrum auction. Due to excessive pricing, the operators who won the bids could not afford to pay and the government had to bail them out later. The government should ensure that the 1995 situation is not repeated. In fact, the ill-effects of high 3G spectrum prices in Europe and elsewhere are well known.
The tepid response to the 2G auction could be a dampener for the government’s plan to levy an auction-determined one-time fee of over R25,000 crore aimed at creating a “level-playing field”. Even a lower fee is bound to hit the operators hard, especially some of the larger players who have to pay both prospective and retrospective charges. This will only accelerate the increase in tariff. Government’s plan on the partial refarming of the efficient 900MHz spectrum is expected to add over R1 lakh crore to the exchequer (http://goo.gl/Ae73k), but this again is likely to increase the tariff by over 60 paise.
The telecom industry contributes to 3% of India’s GDP and the government appears to have found a sweet spot to maximise revenue through exorbitant pricing. However, the government’s greed should not push the industry into oblivion. Considering the response to the 2G auction, will the government learn a lesson and take a pragmatic win-win approach?
The broadband wave is yet to pick up, but the expectations are very high and it is proven that broadband penetration contributes positively to the GDP. The National Telecom Policy (2012) has envisioned a “Right to Broadband” and the mobile phone will undoubtedly play a key role in realising this goal.
It is perhaps time for the government to be less aggressive and consider the welfare of the consumers. The government should strike the right balance that would benefit both consumers and the telecom industry. This is the only way India can sustain its claim to fame in the telecommunication sector over the coming years.
The author is vice-president of Symphony Teleca. Views are personal

Time for India to Innovate

By G Krishna Kumar

Published: 01st October 2012 12:00 AM Indian Express

This year’s Nobel prize for various categories will be announced in the next few weeks. Although there is no formal list announced as such, it is highly unlikely that a resident Indian would figure in the list. It is quite astonishing to note that Sir C V Raman was the last resident Indian to win a Nobel prize in the field of science, almost 80 years back. There are debates around lack of transparency in the Nobel prize selection and why Indians have not been recognised in the past. However, the prize has emerged globally as the top award that recognises outstanding achievements in various areas including pure sciences/medicine and economic sciences.
So why non-resident Indians are able to fare far better than resident Indians in terms of technical excellence or innovation? Do we lack the aptitude to innovate or is there a lack of infrastructure that supports innovation?
Do Indians lack the ability to innovate? Certainly not, we have demonstrated capabilities to innovate in areas like music, movies and in the advertising industry. Indians have also exhibited capabilities in innovating at the grassroot level. Examples abound on the innovative methods used in agriculture. The government’s initiative to set-up the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) is certainly worth mentioning. Gujarat’s grassroots innovation and augmentation network supports grassroot-level innovation and boasts of over two dozen innovative products. These products are generated by people to overcome problems for which solutions are either not available or not affordable. Considering that 72 per cent of Indians live in rural hinterland, when can we see some breakthrough, yet affordable innovation that can be replicated across the country and can result in improved productivity in agriculture?
While converting an innovative idea to a meaningful product, patenting/ IPR protection play an important role. However, there is certainly a lack of awareness on these areas. State or central government’s intervention in improving the awareness is strongly needed.
According to the Global Innovation Index ranking 2012, India is placed at the 64th position among 141 countries. India fares last among the BRIC countries. However, India is ranked 2nd in terms of Innovation Efficiency Index that basically indicates that India fares well considering the prevalent infrastructure and support system.
It is well-known that science, technology and innovation plays a pivotal role in creating a modern society. The Planning Commission’s 12th five-year plan emphasises the need for innovation in all the sectors. Formation of the national innovation council and the national innovation foundation at the Centre and associated State representation is certainly a step in the right direction. However, for India to move ahead of frugal innovation we need a rational thinking society to be created and education would play a critical role. This journey could take decades, but a support system needs to be built that can push India to be a world leader in pure sciences/technology or any other specialisation.
There is an urgent need for a sustainable, ‘activity-based’ model that fosters scientific temper/rational thinking amongst elementary school students (Classes 1 to 8). There are several examples of excellent initiatives to spur creativity among children. The Agasthya foundation, an NGO aimed at children and teachers in rural India, has embarked on an innovative hands-on science programme. Sikshana, another NGO focuses improving learning levels in rural and semi-urban government schools. Recently, the Vadodara Innovation Council, which is part of the National Innovation Council, launched the ‘Tod, Fod, Jod’ programme aimed at experiment-based learning.
While such initiatives have to be applauded, a recent NUEPA report on elementary education in India suggests that basic infrastructure in schools needs significant improvement. Eighty per cent of elementary schools are run by the government and these schools account for 70 per cent of the students. Only 28 per cent of the primary schools have electricity connection and less than 17 per cent of the schools have computers.
It is imperative that the government should focus on improving the intellectual infrastructure across the schooling system in terms of broadband connectivity, library, and, most of all, qualified and knowledgeable faculty. Teachers play a key role in triggering curiosity and guiding students. Hence special focus on enhancing the skills of teachers on ICT usage is required. In addition, a platform for sharing the best practices among the teachers within/across states is desirable.
The large premier institutes, which host best-in-class students and faculty in the field of science and technology, have failed miserably in addressing the innovation needs of the country. There is a need for a system that encourages accountability towards innovation output.
The number of doctorates in science and technology is far lower than other emerging economies. A recent report states that the US and China produce at least 8-9 times more doctorates annually compared to India. Many reasons can be attributed to this — lack of an environment that fosters active partnerships between industry and colleges/universities, industry grants for research, non-availability of research labs in universities and industry, and meagre financial assistance for doctoral students.
The government plans to bring out the Innovative Universities Bill 2012 in order to stimulate innovation in universities, encourage path-breaking research and make India a global knowledge hub. The Bill proposes the formation of 14 world-class national innovation universities across the country. However, it remains to be seen how this Bill will get implemented. Karnataka State’s Innovative Universities Bill 2011 has identified Mysore and Karnataka University to pilot the new system which provides greater autonomy.
In order to encourage innovation among engineering students, the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) plans to identify some of the most innovative academic projects undertaken, mentor the students and potentially provide incubation for the students to convert innovative ideas to products.
NGOs, formed by few passionate individuals and government’s innovation councils have piloted diverse innovation initiatives catering to students at different levels. However, for succeeding in the attempt to improve India’s overall innovation capability, the National Innovation Council should drive the initiatives at a pan-India level. Clear accountability and a performance-driven system must be developed. The biggest challenge in the current system is that the existence of innovation councils is tied to the government in power and this can decelerate the momentum. Can the councils be insulated from government changes?
India has attractive demographics in a young and vibrant population. However, the innovation potential needs to be harnessed efficiently for India to become a knowledge superpower.
G Krishna Kumar is vice president of Symphony Teleca, Bangalore.
E-mail: krishna.kumar@symphonyteleca.com