Ignited Minds (9 page)

More than a hundred answers and suggestions were received from within the country and abroad. Five of these answers are relevant here.

One young man from Chandigarh responded, ‘I will become a teacher (rather, a professor of engineering) since I am good in, as well as enjoy, teaching and I believe that one of the best ways in which to serve one’s nation is to be either a professor or a soldier …’ A girl wrote from Pondichery, ‘A single flower makes no garland. I will … work for a garland leading to unity of minds, as this is needed for transforming India into a developed country.’ A twenty-year-old youth from Goa responded, ‘Like an electron ceaselessly moving in its orbit, I will work
ceaselessly for my country, now onwards.’

With reference to the second point I had raised, a young man from Atlanta wrote: ‘When India becomes capable of imposing sanctions against any country, if they are needed, then I will sing a song of India.’ What the young man meant was that economic strength brings prosperity accompanied by national strength. The fifth answer is actually something that 30 per cent of the respondents said: the need for greater transparency in various facets of our life. One crucial fact often overlooked is that India has a population of 700 million people below the age of thirty-five. These are 700 million people with the inclination, the ability and the enthusiasm to take the nation to greatness. It is a very big force for change indeed.

How can one ignite the young minds? How can one attract and involve the young in the task of nation building? Only a united vision launched with renewed vigour will bring the young force into action.

The subject of transparency and values
brings to my mind Gandhiji. I happened to meet in Delhi his granddaughter, Sumitra Kulkarni. I asked her, ‘Sumitraji, is there a particular incident (in respect of honesty in public life) that you always remember from your grandfather’s life?’

She narrated to me this story. ‘Every day, as you all would have heard, Mahatma Gandhi held a prayer meeting at a fixed time in the evening. After the prayers there would be a collection of voluntary gifts for the welfare of harijans and others. The devotees of Gandhiji used to collect whatever was given by the people of all sections and this collection was counted by a few members suggested by Gandhiji. The amount so collected would be informed to Gandhiji before dinner. The next day, a man from the bank would come to collect the money for deposit.

‘Once the man reported that there was a shortage of few paise in the money handed over to him and the amount informed to Gandhiji the previous night. Gandhiji, on hearing this, was so upset that he went on
fast saying that this is a poor man’s donation and we have no business to lose any of it.’ This episode is a unique example of transparency in public life. Well, in the same country we are witnessing the best and the worst. We should all, particularly the young generation, launch a movement for a transparent India, just as our fathers fought for our freedom. Transparency is a cornerstone of development.

We have spoken about our progress since independence. We are self-sufficient in agriculture, lead the world in milk production, have made enormous strides in industrial development and so on. However, we are still a developing country, one among hundreds.

As such, it is important to understand where we stand in terms of competitiveness. A country’s competitiveness is defined as ‘the ability of a national economy to achieve sustained high rates of economic growth’. By that yardstick, according to the global competitiveness report prepared by the World Economic Forum, Singapore is first,
the USA is second, Hong Kong is third, Taiwan is fourth, Canada is fifth, the UK is eighth, France twenty-third, Germany twenty-fifth and India fifty-ninth.

What decides world competitiveness? It is a combination of the progressiveness of industry, the push for improved technology and the status of governmental deregulation. In terms of overall GDP size, we are twelfth in the world; in terms of per capita GDP we are fifty-seventh. Is this status acceptable to us? Especially to the young? I believe we should work for fourth or fifth position in terms of GDP as well as in respect of competitiveness. The target year should be 2020 and we should aim for a higher position afterwards. We have discussed some of the strategies and tools that can help us acquire the desired status.

To reiterate, a knowledge society can form the foundation for such a vision. I am glad that the Planning Commission has taken a lead in generating a roadmap for us to become such a society.

Where do we start? A number of new
states have been created recently and these provide an excellent opportunity to begin. These states are poorly developed in spite of their abundant natural resources. There is widespread poverty though their people toil and sweat. What really prevents us from leaving the beaten track and venturing upon a new path? The question is not who would allow us but rather, who can stop us?

We need to adapt the implementation of our programmes and policies into a mission mode to succeed. Progress cannot be swift and far-reaching if the path is full of potholes. The abundant national resources, human and material, remain to be fully utilized.

If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow—in some parts a very paradise on earth—I should point to India.

—F. Max Müller

I began this book with my travel to Jharkhand state in the month of September 2001. That was my fourth visit. The first two visits brought me very close to the core competence that this state possesses. I have
been made patron of the Science and Technology Council of this state. My purpose on this visit was to work out a developmental programme in the area of herbs, forest products and other natural resources after meeting with the Chief Minister, Babu Lal Marandi, the Minister for Science and Technology, Samaresh Singh, and concerned officials. When I landed at Ranchi a group of boys and girls greeted me with lots of flowers. I was quite moved by their regard for a simple scientist and their trust in his dreams. I also met the Governor, Prabhat Kumar, who told me about the hard-working nature of the people and the forest wealth of the state.

I recalled my earlier visit to the hill region about 75 km away from Ranchi. Prof. Basu was spearheading a programme oriented towards children’s education and health. As I met the people of the hill region, young and old, in the village complex, sitting like them on the ground, one thing was clear to me: my presence here was ordained. The components for
development were all there–a fertile area with good rainfall, tall trees and rich vegetation, and people who were willing to work hard. Their faces were lit up with happiness so pure it is rarely seen any more, in the cities at least. However their bodies looked tired, showing signs of excess work for a bare livelihood.

On this visit, we made some headway in drawing up a viable plan for developing a herbal drugs industry in the state. We discussed in detail with various officials plans for herbal farms and marketing the herbs to drug producers. Our purpose was that the drugs be manufactured within the state itself so as to provide increased income to the state from value addition as also boost industry there. This was a new experiment for the state and also for our mission, but one that, given our experience in mission management, offers tremendous scope for Jharkhand to enter into three areas in a big way–floriculture, herbs and herbal products.

After the meeting we started for Bokaro, the steel city. The weather was cloudy and
we wondered if the flight would be cancelled. We reached Ranchi Airport at 2.30 in the afternoon. A Pawan Hans helicopter had been hired by the state government. I asked the pilot whether we could fly in this weather. All smiles, the pilot promised me a beautiful flight and so the helicopter took off, with myself and two other passengers.

I have often flown in a helicopter but did find the weather particularly rough on this occasion. However, the pilot was skilful and I even congratulated him at one point for keeping the flight smooth in spite of the turbulence. It was a marvellous experience as we flew over vast stretches of forest and hills and streams. I was struck by the clean environment. I wondered whether this precious natural wealth could be conserved from mindless destruction for short-term business gains. With such thoughts in my mind, I noticed that we had started descending.

Suddenly I found the two pilots in agitated discussion regarding the falling RPM count. I became alert myself. Looking down,
I could see a large number of cars and people everywhere. Then the crash; the helicopter hit the ground with a shattering sound. Broken parts flew around us and I could see fire engines rush towards us.

I simply got out of the helicopter that had hit the ground as a dead weight. Fortunately the engine failed while we were quite close to the ground. Had it failed moments earlier we could have perished under the impact of the free fall. The pilots were in a state of shock and looked at me helplessly. I held their hands and thanked them. I said, sometimes it happens with flying machines and as pilots they have to face it with courage.

I had to address the Chinmaya Vidyalaya students and they would all be waiting, so we rushed to the school leaving behind the crash and the shock. The school’s principal, Krishnaswami, received me and the students showered rose petals as I walked to the dais through the auditorium. News of the crash had preceded my arrival. The children sat in pindrop silence.

To ease the tension I told the young gathering, ‘Friends, when I was travelling from Ranchi to here, I admired God’s great gift to the state. Under the ground and above it, you have minerals in abundance. The rich soil of the Jharkhand plains can give bountiful crops. When I was flying over the lovely forests and the valleys and hills the thought of the wealth they hold in terms of forest and herbal products was very reassuring. On the ground I saw a fully operational steel plant. Now what I see in front of me and what the new state is famous for is its industrious people. So this state has all the wealth needed. It is a land waiting for a transformation to occur. I see in the future, villages that will be provided with urban facilities and are self-contained in respect of education, health and occupation. Today’s incident will help define my remaining life’s mission. I forgot my inconvenience during the landing after seeing the state’s wealth. How can you use this core competence to become a developed state? For that you have to work in the mission mode.’

At the time these children would be entering adult life and taking up careers, they could be part of a national endeavour to becoming a knowledge society. Their contribution to the state itself could be tremendous. That should be their goal: to make Jharkhand great.

One thing that came to mind constantly as I went round the exhibition put up by the children and watched their performances– including a marvellous peacock dance–was how important it was to improve the education system so that it did not stifle these powerhouses of creativity. I felt this is one area I must work upon with the state and the Centre.

I continued with my other engagements after the function at the Chinmaya Vidyalaya. There was a meeting due at the town hall and I went there, brushing aside the concern of the doctors thoughtfully sent by the General Manager of the Bokaro Steel Plant to look after my well-being. At the town hall the subject I had to speak on was ‘Jharkhand’s Core Competence and
Industries’. I kept my speech short, preferring to let a discussion develop.

Meanwhile, the electronic media had done its job! As there was a strong media presence to cover our arrival, news of the crash travelled quickly throughout the country. I started receiving calls on my mobile phone to find out whether I was all right. I did not want to disturb the meeting and gave the mobile phone to Dr Vijayaraghavan, who by then had reached by road from Ranchi. I asked him to call my elder brother in Rameswaram, who is eighty- six years old, and tell him I was fine. The other call I asked him to make was to my personal secretary Sheridon to handle the calls that would come in.

As I was giving my talk Dr Vijayaraghavan passed a note to me. ‘Your brother is not convinced that you are OK. If you are OK he has to hear your voice.’ An elder brother remains elder all your life! I interrupted my speech to reassure my brother.

To come back to the discussion at the town hall meeting, I was asked a very
pertinent question from the audience. ‘Dr Kalam,’ the questioner said, ‘could you please tell me why is raw material exported from many ports specially designed for this purpose?’ This was specially relevant to Jharkhand with its huge storehouse of mineral wealth. In answer, I narrated a conversation I had in Goa. I was on a boat crossing the harbour, on my way to the university for a convocation address, and accompanying me was Dr Jose Paul, Chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust. We started discussing iron ore exports to Japan, much of which take place from Panjim. He told me, 30 million tonnes of iron ore is exported annually from the four ports; of this 17 million tonnes is exported from Mormugao alone. The ore is sold at rather a low price–a few dollars a tonne–as, according to the buyers, it is of inferior quality. As such, its sale did not contribute anything much to the economy. The same ore, utilized here, would, of course, generate far more income because of value addition.

‘What is value addition and could you
give an example?’ I was asked in Bokaro and a powerful example came to my mind. When we were working on the satellite launch vehicles in the 1970s, a requirement arose for beryllium diaphragms. These are used in gyros, sensors used to determine the attitude (the position of an aircraft in relation to specified directions) of the rockets or missiles when they are in flight. As these were not available with us, a procurement team was formed to purchase them in the international market. The team was headed by T.N. Seshan, better known now as the former Chief Election Commissioner of India, with Madhavan Nair, Dr S.C. Gupta and I as members. We struck a deal with a company in New York for a hundred beryllium diaphragms.

Three months later, we got a message from the company that since beryllium diaphragms are used to make gyros mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles, they did not have permission from the State Department to supply them to India. We immediately initiated action to redress the problem in our typical fire-fighting manner. Technology denied was, to us, technology gained.

Meanwhile, it emerged that India has one of the largest deposits of beryllium ore. The ore was exported in those days to Japan, who processed the ore into beryllium rods and sheets and exported them to US companies to transform them into beryllium products such as diaphragms! I received the shock of my life: this was material mined in India and exported to Japan, who processed it and exported it to the US, and the US company refused to give it to India. Where was our sense of initiative? What had happened to our aims? The issue figured prominently in the press and export of beryllium ore was stopped.

The same story is repeated in other areas. The upshot is that India is poor as a nation in spite of its enormous wealth because it does not focus on value addition, be it in mineral or biodiversity products or even grain or fish. In the case of beryllium ore, value addition by at least ten times takes place in refinement itself. Value addition by at least 100 times is achieved during product conversion. And this is what we would be
paying Japan or the US, for something that originated from India itself. It is the same with iron ore, and many other exports; only the scale of value addition varies. It is a lesson that must be quickly learnt.

At the same meeting, another interesting question came up. ‘Do you think in politics, purity is possible?’ It was a little outside my purview but there was one aspect to it, raised earlier, which I would like to mention. This aspect is that an entire generation of people representing excellence in all fields–politics, industry, sciences, the arts–emerged in the years leading to independence. Mahatma Gandhi, C.V. Raman, J.R.D. Tata, Pirojsha B. Godrej, Laxmanrao Kirloskar, Ramakrishna Bajaj, Rabindranath Tagore, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Madan Mohan Malviya … it is a long list. Suddenly there was excellence in every sphere of society and the circumstance making such flowering possible was the vision that the nation had set for itself.

I believe if the nation forms a second vision today, leaders of a stature to suit our ambition will appear once again, in all walks
of life, including politics.

The next day, I travelled to Bokaro Steel Plant, the largest steel plant in India. The General Manager of the plant, Mr Tiwari, accompanied me. The scale of the plant was breathtaking. I saw hundreds of men working in an organized way as the sweat poured off their bodies, while the molten steel flowed from the furnace like a river on fire. The iron ore would be available for years, I was told. Impressive as the plant was I was disappointed to see that there were no industrial estates around it, utilizing the steel produced here to make various products. I was told that setting up of industrial estates came under state purview. It brought back my old regret at our compartmentalized thinking. Why this fragmented governance where one agency is alienated from another? Unless development is directed towards state- based industries, working on huge national missions through centralized planning will not do much for real prosperity.

On the flight back to Delhi, I wondered how Jharkhand could best be helped. What
was needed were a few major missions to transform the state and a time-frame. The state and the Centre would need to make an integrated effort. Would it be possible?

Let me go back to my experience in the SLV-3 missile and weapons development programmes. They illustrate what I mean by an integrated approach. To succeed in these efforts, we had to adopt a multi- organizational mission mode. Building a rocket is a long process from the drawing board to development and launch. All through the process, a number of reliability factors matter. The first stage is a robust booster rocket system. Before Rohini was put into orbit, the booster rocket had gone through five static trials in the flight hardware in full scale, and it had also been tried out during two experimental flights. That means a proven, developed booster was available when the time came for launch.

An IRBM was not demanded by anyone when the missile programme was conceived in 1982. However, the availability of the SLV-3 booster led to the building of a
technology demonstrator–Agni–as part of the approved programme. Agni was launched successfully in 1989 at a moderate budget of Rs 36 crore! Nobody in the world could have anticipated India acquiring IRBM capability in the short period of six years. It happened only because the Agni mission was organized into a multi-institutional programme.

My assessment based on various space and defence projects done as mission mode programmes is that intensive partnership between various participants–government departments, industry, research institutions– brings faster development at lower cost. The same holds in other projects and schemes. Central and state projects integrated as mission mode operations will bring rapid development at minimum cost.