Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The PM's speech at the inauguration of the building of the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering IIT, Kanpur

~I am delighted to be with all of you today. It was my longstanding wish to come to IIT Kanpur, an institute that has done so much, along with other IITs, to brighten India’s image globally in the field of technology education and technology-driven enterprises. IITs have done India proud. Therefore, I am proud of IITs.

But I am doubly delighted by the specific occasion that has brought me here. Inauguration of a departmental building may seem an ordinary event. But what makes it extraordinary is its genesis. It is for the first time in the history of an IIT, or any institution of higher learning in the country for that matter, that a whole new department has been established out of funds made available by a Member of Parliament under the MPLAD scheme.

But, then, nothing that Shri Arun Shourie does is ordinary. When he became a Member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, he came to me with the idea that he would like to give all the MPLAD funds to a centre of excellence for higher education in UP – and too for starting something futuristic.

Some people told me that Shri Arun Shourie’s idea was ~politically incorrect~. MPs usually give funds for improving the amenities in a primary school or a hospital, widening a road, constructing a community welfare centre, or for some such standard purpose. What would be the public reaction to an MP from this State donating his entire 12 crore rupees to an IIT, I thought.

But when Shri Shourie explained to me the thinking behind his gesture, I was quickly convinced that he is doing the right thing. In the initial decades after Independence, there was a debate over whether we should promote primary education or higher education. That debate is now settled. India needs to promote both, because both are critical for the nation’s all-round and speedy development.

Our Government has taken major initiatives on both fronts. We have launched the ambitious Sarva Shikha Abhiyan to translate the commitment of universalisation of elementary education into reality.

Shri Shourie’s initiative is an example of the innovative ways in which higher education can be promoted. It shows that he is a man with an eye on India’s future.

Just look at the dramatic progress India has been making in the area, which his ministry looks after. In just a few years, the telecom landscape in our country has changed and India has emerged as one of the global leaders in Information Technology. What is more, telecom and IT have begun to touch the lives of the common man.

The next big revolution that is unfolding in the world is the biotechnology revolution. This too is going to touch the lives of ordinary people in ways that we cannot even fully imagine today. We must not lag behind others in this revolution. Indeed, India should aspire to be one of the leaders of this revolution. We must plant its healthy saplings in different parts of the country so that we can reap their fruits soon.

I am happy that one such sapling has been planted here in IIT Kanpur. My warm congratulations to all those associated with the conceptualization, construction and running of this department.

The building’s architecture deserves a special word of praise. Aesthetics should become an integral part of everything we build, especially everything we build for the promotion of education.

Coming to your beautiful campus and getting acquainted with its various academic and research activities fills my mind with admiration for those who founded the IIT system. The same futuristic vision that has guided the establishment of the department of biological sciences and bioengineering was also at work when IITs were set up 40-50 years ago.

Take a look back at those times. India had just become independent. There were enormous challenges facing the nation. Many of these challenges were very basic -- such as growing enough food and building enough schools. And yet, there were far-sighted people who felt that India had to become self-reliant in science and technology. They envisioned that India needed to establish institutions of excellence to provide world-class technology education at a very low-cost to the brightest students in the country.

IITs have achieved this purpose in an impressive manner. They have become the magnet for the most intelligent and most ambitious students who, after their studies, have made a mark in industry and management both in India and around the world.

Over the years, access to IITs has been democratized. More and more students hailing from middle classes, underdeveloped states, small towns and less privileged classes of society are getting admission into IITs. This is a positive trend, which should be further promoted.

There is also an urgent need to expand the overall size of the IIT system. India’s population was just around 50 crores when the five original IITs were set up. Now it has more than doubled. The level of awareness, desire and ambition among talented students to get into the IIT system has risen much more. Although two more IITs at Guwahati and Roorkee have been added to the previous five during the past decade, and although the intake of undergraduate students has also been stepped up, there is still a big need to vastly expand the pool of high-quality technical manpower at the Bachelor level.

The challenge before us is this: how to substantially increase the intake while maintaining the high standards of IITs. To meet this challenge, the Government has decided to set up five new IITs by upgrading existing academic institutions that have the necessary promise and potential. We actively seek participation of the private sector and contributions from the alumni of IITs and other institutions for this purpose.

I am told that many distinguished alumni have given generous donations to set up new facilities at IIT Kanpur and at other IITs. I warmly commend their spirit of giving back to the institutions that gave them their most valuable asset – good education. I urge more and more wealthy people in our society to emulate this spirit, so that we can rapidly modernize our educational infrastructure.

Students and teachers, I can imagine how good it feels to know that one is a part of a globally reputed institution. But you cannot afford to remain content with your past laurels and present reputation.

Two immediate tasks confront the IIT system. Firstly, you have to take into account growing competition from high-quality technology institutions in Asia and elsewhere. If you want to continue to be ranked among the best in the world – and I am sure you want to – there is only one way to succeed: you have to constantly improve your standards. You have to constantly be on the lookout for best academic practices around the world and adopt them or adapt them to suit your needs and conditions.

There is another task before you. It is true that IITs have been a huge success story as a producer of top-class undergraduate and postgraduate manpower in different technology disciplines. But you should now aspire to gain a similar reputation for your research work. The best universities around the world are adjudged so for their record in creation of new knowledge. In technology institutions, their reputation also depends on their ability to translate that knowledge into new socially useful and commercially viable applications. It is for each IIT to assess its research performance against these criteria and take necessary steps to improve it.

In this context, I must compliment IIT Kanpur for its growing orientation towards research. Recently, when the Ministry of Railways was looking for an academic partner for its National Mission for Railway Safety, it quickly chose the research team in this institution, which, I am told, has already done good work in this field.

I would like each IIT to select from a bouquet of such research projects of national importance and produce outcomes that would benefit society at large. Water conservation, energy conservation, waste management, e-governance – there are many challenges where your research can make impact-making contributions. I assure you that the Government will extend necessary support for such research projects.

My young friends, a significant number of graduates from IITs have so far tended to go to greener pastures abroad. It used to be said that the main reason for this is the lack of opportunities here. But this situation is changing now, with the advent of economic reforms. Ours is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The benefits of reforms are becoming visible. Our infrastructure is improving. The whole world is looking at India as a nation on the move and as a land of opportunity.

We are determined to create such a conducive environment in India for talented Indians that they need no longer feel that they can realize their full potential only by working abroad. Already, many Indian cities have created globally comparable facilities for technology-driven enterprises.

Nothing can stop India from making even more rapid strides in the coming years and decades. But this endeavour requires one thing to succeed: your zeal, your talent, your intellect, and your hard work. And I see all these qualities in abundance when I see young Indians – both here and abroad.

I too was a young man like you when I was a student of political science in DAV College in Kanpur more than 50 years ago. I have seen India’s tremendous progress since then. We have become a stronger, more prosperous and more self-confident nation. Of course, many problems still remain to be addressed and overcome. Of course, many States – Uttar Pradesh included -- still need to catch up with the more developed parts of the country. But all this will happen if our people resolve to make them happen. I have no doubt that, with this national resolve, we can realize our goal of making India a Developed Nation by 2020.

Science and technology are going to be the key factors for realizing Vision 2020. Therefore, the Nation expects you IITians to make your fullest contribution to making it happen.

With these words, I have great pleasure in inaugurating the complex housing the new Department of Biosciences and Bio-Engineering. My best wishes for its success.

Thank you.~