New Delhi, Jan 12
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) will present to the nation a
set of radical recommendations for reform which has the potential to
fundamentally transform the country's knowledge sector and make it
truly cutting edge. The overriding theme of the recommendations will
be to create an "inclusive" society where access to knowledge will
be the centerpiece of the reform.
According to advance excerpts of the report obtained by IANS, Sam
Pitroda, the Chicago-based chairman of the Commission, says, "We
hope that the work we have done during our first year will be of
value to the government and will find the enthusiasm and support of
the administration in its implementation. We also hope that our
recommendations will receive the attention they deserve and create
necessary public discussion, debate and dialogue to generate a
favorable public opinion. We say this with a particular emphasis on
the 550 million people below the age of 25 who hold in their hands
the destiny of not just India but the world as well."
"While making the recommendations we have been guided by how
knowledge will impact the lives of ordinary hardworking people of
India. We are conscious that knowledge is about farmers having
access to accurate information about water resources, land quality
and fertilizers, students having access to schools and colleges of
high quality and good libraries, scientists having access to well
equipped modern laboratories, industry having access to skilled
workforce and people generally having right to information and good
governance," Pitroda says in the foreword to the report.
Six of the ten recommendations made by the commission deal with
access at a time when pressures on admission to schools and
universities has become a highly politicized subject. "We have done
so consciously in keeping with the UPA government's philosophy of
building an inclusive society. The emerging knowledge society and
associated opportunities present a set of new imperatives and new
challenges for our industry, economy, government and society. Our
future prosperity depends upon the policies, programs and people
that foster continuous generation and application of knowledge and
pursuit of learning," the report says.
"We have addressed a wide range of subjects including a
comprehensive reform of higher education, overhaul of public
libraries, creation of a Knowledge Network, setting up of national
portals, transformation of vocational education, re-engineering of
government processes and making e-governance citizen-centric whose
impact would be felt over the next decade. We have taken particular
care to keep the entire process democratic, transparent and
participative," it says.
The report to the nation, which is expected to become an annual
exercise, comes amid some controversial comments by the commission's
deputy chairman Pushp Bhargava that he was not consulted on the
recommendations about higher education. There have also been doubts
expressed over the eventual effectiveness of the NKC's
recommendations.
Pitroda has sought to play down such criticism saying the
functioning of the NKC has been transparent and democratic. "Is it
news that there are disagreements? I don't think so," he said.
Pitroda told IANS he was somewhat reminded of the days when he
introduced reforms in the country's telecommunications sector in the
mid 1980s. "People then thought I was crazy to want to turn India
into an information and technology power. Two decades down the line
no one is debating that assertion. I am sure the same thing will
happen with the NKC recommendations," he said.
The NKC recommendations are wide ranging, taking in their sweep
higher education, vocational training, libraries, e-governance,
right to education and translations. Each of the recommendations has
been crafted to achieve the objective of tapping into India's
"enormous" reservoir of knowledge and prepare the country for the
challenges of the 21st century.
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