This op-ed by Pranjal Bezborah is trying to bring an important issueto the forefront. This India Vision 2020 proports to transform India into a developedcountry in 2020. I am sure some states will take the cue from Dr.Kalam, and will definitely do everything they can to accomplish theVision. Will Assam be one of those states? Bezborah asks the right questions. Where will Assam stand in 2020vis-a-vis other states? Will the gaps in development compared to someother states, we see now, become more pronounced? If Assam were to also jump into this band-wagon, what are the coreminimum requirements that she must have now to envision such a future. --Ram________________________________________________Vision 2020 and Assam— Pranjal BezborahThe President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, as Chairman of the TechnologyInformation Forecast-ing and Assessment Council (TIFAC) guided anumber of technology projects and missions to take India into thetwenty first century. The document on Technology Vision 2020 is ablueprint to make India a developed country. Dr Kalam said, "For several decades India has been addressed in everyinternational forum as a developing country. It is the dream of everycitizen of this country to see India transform itself into a developednation in about two decades. The time has now come, when our thoughtsand aspirations have to be converted into missions and thereafter intoresult oriented actions." The Vision 2020 has been described in detail in two documents – one byTIFAC and the other by the Department of Defence Research andDevelopment in 18 volumes. These two documents addressed the wealthgeneration and wealth protection aspects in a very comprehensivemanner and identified technology as the linking factor. The fusion ofthese two documents resulted in the India Millennium Missions 2020(IMM 2020), which has an excellent framework and road map for making astrong and developed India by the year 2020. To transform India to a developed country, five areas have beenidentified where the country has core competence for an integratedaction : (1) agriculture and food processing, (2) reliable and qualityelectric power for all parts of the country, (3) education andhealthcare, (4) information technology and (5) strategic sectors likenuclear technology, space technology and defence technology. Thesefive areas according to Dr Kalam, are closely inter-related andculminate in 30 IMM 2020 missions leading to economic securitymissions, involving close, sustained and intense cooperation andcollaboration between various agencies of the Government of India,State government agencies, industry and business and several otherNGOs. Thus, a strong synergetic partnership among research anddevelopment, academia, industry and community as a whole with thegovernment departments will be essential to accomplish the vision. Vision documents suggest that all of us have a role to play inrealising the vision, actions are many, but the goal is one. There isa role for every action aimed at making a developed India. Dr Kalamdescribes the role of various individuals, organisations and agenciesfor the country's transformation as follows : Teacher, banker, doctor, administrator or other professional : Devotea few days in a month to doing something better; something speedier;something of high quality; something which will make you proud;something which will make a poorer or suffering person's life a littlebetter. Government ministries/departments : Take one mission each to realisethe vision of developed India with internal core strength, preferablyin partnership with other departments, agencies, NGOs and privatesectors. Central Public Sector Undertakings : One project each to make adeveloped India. They are to unleash their technological strengths.This should be in addition to the mission their concerned ministriesmay launch and for which they will contribute. State Public Sector Undertakings : Mission document asks them totransform themselves at least one area to serve the people in theirrespective area of operation. If possible they may launch one projectwith partners on similar lines that goes beyond their region. Research and Development laboratories/academic institu-tions : Theyhave the unique opportunities to be the front-runner. Eachlab/institution to launch such a project of their own, in addition tocontributing to missions PSUs projects, etc. Private Sector : Each large private sector industry/organisationshould launch a project similar to what is suggested for PSUs, inaddition to its own corporate plans and other demands placed on it bygovernment sponsored missions and projects. Media : They should spread the message of success, however small thesuccess is. There are many grim events and developments that they haveto cover, but the positive can also be news. They have a role inbuilding up an image of an India with hundreds and thousands of heroesand heroines who are changing the country's destiny. In the book India 2020, APJ Abdul Kalam and YS Rajan said that theyheld discussions with economists, agricultural experts, technologistsfrom different fields, from industry, government administrators atvarious levels, non-governmental professionals and activists, mediapersons and political leaders at different fora as to the achievementof vision. They came to the conclusion that concerted efforts in fiveareas can lead to a major movement towards transformation of thenation. These five areas are marked by strong interlinkages andprogress in any one of them will lead to simultaneous action in otherareas as well. They suggest each and every Indian, in different walksof life, to contribute something towards realising the vision for thenation. When we look at Assam, one of the economically backward States of thecountry, nothing tangible we see that is being initiated towardsrealising the millennium vision to transform India in to a developedcountry by 2020. Five years of the millennium have passed and it seemsthat we the people of Assam are not at all concerned about the vision.As envisioned India will become one of the developed countries of theworld in 2020, but what will be the status of development of Assam?The gap between the already underdeveloped State and the developedregions of the country will tremendously increase. Do we not have adream to live in a developed India? Assam needs leaders who can command the change for transformation ofthe State along with the other parts of the country into a developedState embedded with knowledge society in the coming 15 years. Theleaders are the creators of new organisations of excellence. Qualityleaders are the magnets who will attract the best of persons to buildthe team for the organisation and give the inspiring leadership evenduring failures of individuals or organisation, as they are not afraidof risks. What we need now is the empowerment at all levels in theState. When individual or a team is empowered with technology,knowledge and experience, transformation to higher potential forachievement is assured. When the leader of any institution empowershis or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation inmultiple areas. When the political leaders of the State empower thepeople through visionary policies, the prosperity of the State iscertain.(The writer is Director Incharge, Centre for Manag! ement Studies,Dibrugarh University). _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam
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