Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has called upon the governments, IT industry and the academia to set up more centers of excellence such as the Indian Institute of Information Technology for tapping the global potential of the Indian youth.
Addressing the third annual convocation of the IIIT-Bangalore on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, Singh said the ratio of only one out of every 50 students getting an opportunity to pursue high-end technical education showed that the country needed more such institutes to accommodate those who have been left out of the competitive admission.
"If the ratio is 1:50 for admission into such premier institutes, it does not mean the remaining 49 unqualified students were not eligible or competitive enough. Given the chance and a favorable environment, they too would be in a position to realise their full potential," Singh stated.
Lauding the 100 per cent success rate of the IIIT-B students in completing their post-graduate diploma in information technology in two years and securing attractive placements in global companies in India and abroad, Singh said the results demonstrated that India was emerging as a global reservoir of talent, innovation, insight and spirit of inquiry.
"The fruitful outcome of such institutes shows that learning is synonymous to success, Singh said.
Cautioning the students to be wary of 'ahankar' (arrogance) and 'abhiman' (false pride), Singh said they should strive to have more 'atma-vishwas' (self-confidence).
"You are in reality today's India and tomorrow's world. Recognise your strength in an attitude of self-confidence and not of arrogance. For arrogance has destroyed even gods. It is not an arrogant India that we seek, but a self-confident India.
It is high time we stop talking India down. What India has and what India today represents is a very great quality. Treasure it and build upon it by striving to reach the horizon. Never be deluded by anyone that horizon cannot be reached. Always question yourself, even wisdom and acquire it. Reach high and beyond your limits. Think big. Be big. Be great and noble. Try and catch the two ends of the rainbow with both hands," Singh exhorted the students, including the alma-matter.
Earlier, delivering the convocation address, Council of Scientific Industrial Research director-general R A Mashelkar said the emergence of IIITs in the country signaled the arrival of India.
Though triple ITs are currently located only in a couple of cities such as Hyderabad and Chennai, besides Bangalore, the tremendous demand for admission into such high-end technical institutes prove that there is no dearth of unbridled talent and skills for pursuing knowledge, information, insight and spirit of inquiry.
"The three 'I' in IIITs should be known for information, inquiry and insight rather than merely the Indian Institute of Information Technology.
"While information will be available and accessible by the convergence of technologies, it is inquiry and insight into the future that will take India to the global arena," Mashelkar claimed.
Stressing that information could be converted into insight by the process of intelligent inquiry, Mashelkar said the 21st century would be that of knowledge and mind. It is the products of mind that would dominate this century. It is the Indian mind with its quality that is going to create leadership for the world over.
"The biggest capital in the 21st century will be the Indian talent. I had a glimpse of the great Indian talent or mind at the Bharatiya Pravasi Divas where about 2,000 overseas Indians gathered, including Nobel laureates V S Naipaul and Amritya Sen," Mashelkar recalled.
Referring to the growth of IT in India, Mashelkar said the new economy sector had done something magical to the very image of the country. It is not merely its contribution to the economy, constituting about 10 per cent of the total exports but it had built a brand image for the country, besides giving self-respect and self- confidence to its people.
"It is this great Indian talent capital that has made about 60 global companies to set up their research and development centers across the country during the last 5 years, with majority of them in Bangalore alone.
"The presence of $130-billion GE's R&D in Bangalore is a testimony to the intellectual capital of India, a fact that was even acknowledged by its former CEO Jack Welch," Mashelkar asserted.
"India may be a developing country, but it is already a developed country in so far as its intellectual infrastructure is concerned," Mashelkar recalled Welch saying about India's human resource capital.