DR. A.P.J. Abdul KalamFORMER PRESIDENT OF INDIATerm of Office: 25th July 2002 - 25th July 2007

Address And Interaction With The Students Of Shri Ram College Of Commerce, New Delhi

New Delhi : 19-03-2007

Dimensions of National Prosperity

"Economic development leading to 
national prosperity with value system 
is the real measure of growth"

I am delighted to address and interact with the students of Shri Ram College of Commerce which has been serving educational needs in commerce and economics of industries for more than eight decades. This institution is indeed a brand institution for Commerce. It is the foresight of Sir Shri Ram and his six business colleagues who sowed the seeds for the creation of an educational institution in commerce and economics which today has blossomed into a unique institution of the year in commerce education. It is indeed a beautiful and purposeful contribution of Sir Shri Ram and his team for this noble endeavour.

My greetings to the Chairman and Members of the Shri Ram Foundation, the Principal, faculty members, students, parents and distinguished guests. I am happy that the College aims to provide a complete, meaningful and relevant commerce and economics education to our youth so that they are intellectually well trained, morally upright, socially aware and spiritually inspired. This College has generated many distinguished personalities who are contributing in different disciplines in the country and abroad. Since the college is concentrating on commerce and economics, I thought of sharing with you certain thoughts on the subject ?Dimensions of National Prosperity?.

National Prosperity Index

While we are happy that our economy is in the ascent phase and our GDP is growing at nearly 9% per annum, it is evident that economic growth is not fully reflected in the quality of life of a large number of people, particularly in rural areas and even in urban areas. Hence, we have evolved what is called a ?National Prosperity Index (NPI)? which is a summation of (a) Annual growth rate of GDP; � plus (b) improvement in quality of life of the people, particularly those living below the poverty line plus (c) the adoption of a value system derived from our civilizational heritage in every walk of life which is unique to India. That is NPI=a+b+c. Particularly, ?b? is a function of availability of housing, good water, nutrition, proper sanitation, quality education, quality healthcare and employment potential. ?c? is a function of promoting the joint family system, creation of a spirit of working together, leading a righteous way of life, removing social inequities, and above all promoting a conflict free, harmonious society. This will be indicated by peace in families and communities, reduction in corruption index, reduction in court cases, elimination of violence against children and women and communal tensions. There should also be progressive reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line leading to its becoming near zero by 2020. All our efforts in improving the national economic performance should be guided by the measured National Prosperity Index of the nation at any point of time.

I suggest that faculty members can facilitate a discussion among students for deriving comprehensive parameters which should be included in the NPI. I have proposed this concept of the ?National Prosperity Index? to my Government. Since students and faculty of the Shri Ram institute are specialists in Commerce and Economics, you may like to think about it and correspond with me through my email at presidentofindia@rb.nic.in.

Now, let us study the ambiance of the nation today.

Ascent Phase

In Indian history, very rarely has our nation come across a situation, all at a time, an ascending economic trajectory, continuously rising foreign exchange reserves, reduced rate of inflation, global recognition of our technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet, with the potential sharing capacity of knowledge and resources and interest shown by many developed countries to invest in our engineers and scientists including setting up of new Research & Development Centers. The distinction between public and the private sectors and the illusory primacy of one over the other is vanishing. India as the largest democracy in the world has a reputation for its democracy and for providing leadership to one billion people with multi-cultural, multi-language and multi-religious backgrounds. Our technological competence and value systems with civilizational heritage are also highly respected. Foreign Institutional Investors are finding investing in India attractive. We need to accelerate this process through hassle free single window system of clearance for investment proposals. Our industrialists are also investing abroad and opening new business ventures. The Indian economy is growing with an average annual GDP growth rate of over 8 to 9%. Very soon, we will be reaching the target of 10% GDP growth rate. We have to examine whether increasing the growth rate to 10% of GDP alone will be sufficient or other ingredients are also required to ensure enhancment of the National Prosperity Index. For doing this, it is essential to work out the quantitative value of the National Prosperity Index. Now, let me give my visualization of India during the year 2020.

Possible Ambience in 2020

I visualize a prosperous India well before the year 2020. We expect the people below the poverty line to come to near zero and our literacy must be nearly 100%. The Human Development Index of India will be less than 50 against the present 127. Every Indian will have either have a good university degree or quality training with globally competitive employable vocational skill. E-governance would be in position for all Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Citizens (G2C) transactions making the governance system transparent with a National ID card in position. Tele-density will reach over 75%. All our villages will have reliable, uninterrupted quality electric power supply. 600,000 villages will have all three connectivities such as physical connectivity, electronic connectivity, knowledge connectivity leading to economic connectivity through the programme of PURA. The interlinking of rivers and water bodies and use of technology for water collection, water recycling and water management will result in equitable distribution of water for drinking, irrigation, industry, navigation and as natural beauty. There will be no shortage of water in any part of the country nor will there be disasters due to floods, water logging etc. India would have realized energy security and would be working towards energy independence. Good sanitation facilities will be available in homes in every part of India and for all Indians and tourists. We will be using more of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind power, bio-mass, mini and micro Hydel and thorium based nuclear reactors which are environment friendly energy sources.

Through responsive and innovative venture capital systems and entrepreneurial training both in schools and colleges, we will have more enterprises leading to a large number of employment generators rather than employment seekers. A pro-active healthcare system delivered through innovative schemes will provide quality healthcare access at an affordable cost to all the people including those living in remote areas. Everyone will have an opportunity to take up and complete courses of choice in higher education. I am sure you will all see prosperity in the country, which will replace scarcity and controls. In addition to the above economic, social and human development, India will also have a visible global presence in strategic sectors and will contribute to world peace. All our technological and economic advances while enhancing our prosperity would embed our value system derived from our civilizational heritage. This unique combination will make our growth robust and sustainable and will lead to a peaceful, secure, happy and prosperous society. For achieving Vision 2020 from the present ambiance, we need a measurement tool which can guide us in our growth path. Since we are looking for inclusive growth for our one billion people, we need a comprehensive measure of our growth in terms of the National Prosperity Index. Hence, I would suggest the students and faculty members of Shri Ram College of Commerce to carry out research on the National Prosperity Index and bring out key socio-economic parameters on which this index should be measured. Also, how our statistical systems should be designed to bring out the status and growth of the National Prosperity Index on a quarterly basis as is being done in respect of GDP today.

Mission for Shri Ram College of Commerce

The students of Shri Ram College of Commerce as a part of their project work, have studied parameters of economic development in Daudpur village in Punjab with particular reference to income level, crop production details, input usage, labour hiring, credit situation and also an insight into socio cultural life of the people. This type of study may also be enlarged by adding parameters like education level of family members, availability of pucca houses, availability of safe drinking water, good sanitation facilities, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, life expectancy, opportunity and availability of productive non-farm jobs in rural settings. In addition, we may also have to take up issues such as crime in the village, male and female ratio, respect to women, status of special ability children for getting an inclusive picture about society as a whole. With this experience, I would recommend the under graduate and post-graduate students of Shri Ram College of Commerce to take up a study for the implementation of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) as a business proposition in different states around Delhi. The college can assign a three month project work for a group of four students to come up with a detailed project report and implementation plan for the PURA in consultation with their respective State Government and District Authorities. There are number of operational PURA?s in the country such as Periyar PURA in Vallam, Tamil Nadu, Byrraju PURA in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, Loni PURA in Maharastra, Chitrakoot PURA in Madhya Pradesh and Sakthi PURA in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. Now, I would like to share with you the features of a PURA complex which I had inaugurated in Chhattisgarh called Baktara PURA.

Baktara PURA in 2011

This PURA complex would have transformed into a dynamic rural complex in another four year time with focus on employment potential for about 50% of the families of Baktara with three connectivities like physical connectivity, electronic connectivity, knowledge connectivity, leading to economic connectivity. This PURA complex will have its umbilical connectivity with the nearest university. The visualization of Baktara PURA by the year 2011 is given below:-

a) The 5880 dwelling units will have houses with clean water supply and sanitation facilities. 
b) The village complex will have 100% literacy among the 34,000 citizens 
c) Apart from upgrading existing schools, the complex will have few colleges, world class vocational training institutions in construction, carpentry, welding natural art; Computer maintenance and Services, IT Enabled Services, BPO and a Call Center. Sakshat programme - a one stop education portal will be used through internet for capacity building in this region. 
d) The people in the PURA complex will be able to get quality healthcare through tele-medicine and also through mobile clinics via PHC. They will be brought under a corporate medical healthcare scheme. 
e) This PURA village complex will be free from diseases like polio, TB, leprosy and malaria and other waterborne diseases. The infant mortality rate will be less than 10. 
f) The PURA complex will promote horticulture and floriculture products, apart from agriculture in collaboration with Ravi Shankar Shukla University and Agriculture University. 
g) There will be agro-processing industries in the PURA complex for value addition to horticulture produce. 
h) Dairy will be functional producing over one lakh liters of milk per day for Raipur and other areas. They can also produce other milk products. This dairy will be established in collaboration with institutions like BAIF. 
i) The 70 water bodies in this PURA cluster will be operational and used for water harvesting during the rainy season. 
j) All 17,000 employable people of this PURA village cluster will have an additional job in dairy, agro-processing industry, construction business and tourism. 
k) The per capita income of this PURA cluster will be three times the present per capita income. For achieving this performance, I had suggested creation of a dynamic PURA management system. This has to be evolved with active participation of the State Government, district authorities, NGOs, educational institutions, small scale industries or an enterprise in association with the Panchayat. Finally it has to be managed as a viable and sustainable business proposition through local entrepreneurship. I am sure many graduates and post graduates in commerce, economics and business management would like to take up the task of establishing a PURA in their own region as a vibrant economic entity. This will be the greatest contribution which can be made by the students of Shri Ram College of Commerce.

Research ? teaching ? Research

Good teaching emanates from Research. The teachers? love for research and their experience in research are vital for the growth of any institution. Any Institutions is judged by the level and extent of the research work it accomplishes. This sets in a regenerative cycle of excellence. Experience of research leads to quality teaching and quality teaching imparted to the young in turn enriches research. Shri Ram College of Commerce with its core competence in commerce, economics and business management shound now enter into Ph.D. programmes in these subjects. I am sure that Delhi University will be able to provide necessary sanctions for facilitating Shri Ram College of Commerce to commence research programmes in its campus particularly in the area of rural development and working out a quantitative model National Prosperity Index. Now, I would like to discuss another important factor namely global competitiveness which is essential for faster transformation of our nation into a developed country.

Innovation is capital

I was studying the Global Competitiveness Report for the year 2006-07. There I found in terms of Growth Competitive Index ranking Switzerland is ranked 1, Finland is ranked 2, Singapore is ranked 5, US is ranked 6, Korea 24, UAE 32, India 43 and China 54. India has moved up in competitiveness to 43 from 50. Some time back, the President of Finland, Her Excellency Mrs. Tarja Halonen, visited Rashtrapati Bhavan. During our discussions, I asked her, what is the significance and how Finland has always been in the first few positions in the competitiveness index in the past few years? She gave three reasons: (1). Education, Education, Education ? it is the foundation for the Finland?s Competitiveness she said (2). Life Long learning is promoted in Finland ? people continuously are in learning mode, (3). Women are empowered with Education. Of course we have similar experiences in India, wherever we have empowered women with education, states have excelled in the Human Development Index. Growth competitiveness is determined by innovative ability of any institution or organization. This innovation arises from institutional initiative and R & D productivity of the firm, shaped by policies and nature of local institutions. National innovative capacity has to be a country?s important potential to reinforce both the political and economic entity with commercially relevant competitive products. This capacity is distinct from purely scientific or technical achievements and focuses on economic application of new technology. I am sure, the education system of Shri Ram College of Commerce is oriented towards promoting innovative capacity of each student passing out from its portals.

Conclusion

Since you all belong to the Commerce and Economics stream, I would like to discuss with you the linkage between national economic development and creative leadership: -

1 A nation?s Economic development is powered by competitiveness. 
2 Competitiveness is powered by knowledge power. 
3 Knowledge power is powered by Technology and innovation. 
4 Technology and innovation is powered by resource investment. 
5 Resource investment is powered by revenue and return on Investment. 
6 Revenue is powered by Volume and repeat sales through customer loyalty. 
7 customer loyalty is powered by Quality and value of products. 
8 Quality and value of products is powered by Employee Productivity and innovation. 
9 Employee Productivity is powered by Employee Loyalty, employee satisfaction and working environment. 
10 Working Environment is powered by management stewardship and sound project management. 
11 Management stewardship is powered by Creative leadership.

For success in all your missions you have to become creative leaders. Creative leadership means exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For a prosperous and developed India, the important thrust will be on the generation of a number of creative leaders from our educational institution. I am sure the Shri Ram College of Commerce will generate many creative leaders who will make an impact in the process of national development.

My best wishes to all the members of Shri Ram College of Commerce, success in their mission of promoting value based education in Commerce and Economics for our Indian youth.

May God bless you.

Question and Answer Session

1. Sir, recently you took a ride in a Sukhoi MKI. There was also a time when you wanted to get into the Air Force but couldn?t. So is life coming full circle or is it simply a new high?

- Vaibhav Singh B.Com. (Hons.) I Year

Ans: Definitely it is a beautiful experience. Part of my dream is fulfilled. But it is not equivalent to joining the Air Force and earning the flying wing.

2. Sir, we look at you as a great visionary and a highly knowledgeable person in public life. In spite of the great demands of your high office, how have you been able to retain your active interest in the pursuit of science?

- Shagun Chopra B.Com. (Hons.) II

Ans: All my work what I do is related to scientific thinking and scientific missions. I am guiding a Ph.D Student who is working on the study of brain of mentally challenged children.

3. Sir, you are a scientist of repute and you also believe deeply in religion. So, isn?t there a universal dichotomy between science and religion?

- Khayati Parikh B.Com.(Hons.) III Year

Ans: I would like to tell a story about how science and spirituality meet. Explain church story.

4. Why is it that the nation today is lacking of adequate incentives for scientific research as a career? As an eminent scientist and the Head of the State how would you like to address this issue?

- Purva Gupta B.A. (Hons.) Economics I Year

Ans: If science has to flourish in the minds of the youth, the essential promoters are ?Value of Science?, Scientific Magnanimity?, ?Research Challenges? and an assured ?Science Career?.

I have had many discussions with parents also. The parents spend almost all their earnings in order to educate their children, since they see the education as the best way of promising an assured career. They even go to the extent of sacrificing their personal luxuries and get loans to educate the children. The only vision they have in their eyes is to see well settled sons and daughters with guaranteed profession. They see this happen if their children pursue a degree in Engineering, Management, Medicine or administrative services. They do not see the pursuit of pure sciences and research guaranteeing this.

This, I consider as an important area of concern of the nation and it needs the attention of the scientific community as a whole. In my view, it is essential for the nation to assure a career for those who wish to pursue science as a mission. This will attract many students with the full support of the parents. We should work for the creation of a science cadre, with clear mission goals, well defined growth path and attractive salaries. There should be a minimum annual intake of about 400 M.Sc and 200 Ph.Ds with assured career growth in the organisations such as CSIR, DST, Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Bio Technology, Department of Agriculture, ISRO, DRDO, Atomic Energy, and the Universities. This could be discussed by the academies of sciences and scientific advisory committee to the cabinet for making recommendation to the cabinet. Starting a number of Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research is definitely a good effort towards attracting youth towards science as a career.

5. It has been accepted that Indian agriculture is going through a phase of crisis. Is there something wrong with our political system, which is non-responsive to the interests of the distressed peasantry?

- Khushbu Agrawal B.A. (Hons.) Economics II Year

Ans: Governments has doubled the agricultural credit and brought out certain crop insurance system, loans and grant facilities. I have analyzed what are the important things which can lead to prevention of distress among the farmers in the agricultural sector:

a. Value addition to agriculture produce

b. Quality Assurance of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides through assured sources

c. Introduction of organic farming, since there is a world wide market.

d. Banking system to reach atleast to the panchayat level, so that the villagers are freed from money lenders

e. Knowledge input from research scientists, educational institutions and industry on the agricultural practices, right type of cropping, agro-processing and marketing has to reach the grass root farmers. Examples: Gheri batter ? Doubling the seed cotton productivity, RP Channel 5 in Paliganj, Bihar for more than doubling the rice and wheat productivity.

6. The recent tussle between agriculture and corporate led industrialization, State acquisition of agricultural land for industrial purposes that has led to violent protests from native populace. What do you think the State?s role should be to ensure that growth is inclusive?

- Amiya Sharma B.A. (Hons) Economics III Year

Ans: Special Economic Zone is vital for the development of a region where economic prosperity has not reached. The country has got nearly 60 million hectares of uncultivated waste land. A part of it should be used for development. There could be some exceptions. Again, these exceptions should be utilized keeping in mind people?s prosperity as the prime factor.

7. Sir, which role is more fulfilling, being President and contributing to the growth story of India or being a scientist and contributing to its technological progress?

- Rajeev Verma M.A. (Final Year)

Ans: Science and Technology is an economic propeller. It is not the position that decides.

8. Sir, I would like to know how you have been able to maintain a balance between your personal views on various matters and your official position while working as the President of India.

- Shivali Tuli M.Com. (Final Year)

Ans: Nation is important in any decision making process.

9. Sir, what are your expectations from the youth of the country and how can they contribute to India?s progress in the years to come?

- Rahul Dayal G.B.O. (Previous)

Ans: Always think ?What can I give??, then acquire knowledge and sweat. When problem occurs, defeat the problem and succeed.

10. Sir, besides providing employment, how can the corporate world contribute in nation building?

- Akanksha Srivastava G.B.O. (Final)

Ans: All corporate have a social responsibility. For example, today I discussed PURA in my lecture. Each corporate can take up certain cluster of villages in the neighbourhood of their organization and develop employment potential thereby enhancing connectivity, education, healthcare and quality of life of the people of the region. This will also increase the per capita income. I have seen many corporate are contributing through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.