Margao : Former dean of IIM Bangalore and founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms, Dr Trilochan Sastry, said India must invest in science, technology and quality education if it is to compete with countries such as China, the UK and the USA.
Delivering the inaugural Vichar Vedh lecture at Gomant Vidya Niketan, Margao, Dr Sastry said, “India is the fourth largest economy in the world and extreme poverty is at around 5.3 per cent while general poverty is around 28 per cent. Literacy has improved. But we must look at what is going around the world and grow with it. There is huge inequality in wealth, there is regional disparity. But science and technology is one of the drivers of economic success.”
Comparing India with global economies, he said the United States of America and China had around 80 per cent of their economies in science and technology, including high-end manufacturing.
“We on the other hand have only around 55 per cent in the sector and mostly in the IT services that are being quickly replaced with AI. Around 50 per cent of the Indian economy is still in agriculture and earns only 11 per cent of the GDP. The structure of our economies is very different,” he said.
Dr Sastry said a knowledge economy is driven by a large educated population. “There needs to be investment in quality education for the young people like we can see in a country like Ireland. We in India are ignoring this.”
Pointing to the growing need for trade workers, he said less than two per cent of the population of India is skilled. “China is at 50 per cent. Without investment in skilling can we be at par with countries like China? We can’t! Investment in high quality education is very much required. India has the talent, there are many smart people but we are failing them. We are not focusing on intellectual depth today,” he said.
He also called for improvements in education, skill training and manufacturing, and stressed the need to foster trust, self-reliance and self-respect among citizens.
