India needs to move towards adequacy in technology from “a state of technological dependence in the critical sectors” where it relies on imports, said former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan Saturday.
“In the critical sectors, in the strategic sectors, we are dependent heavily on imports…in the medical field, 80-90 percent of the equipment is imported… So, from a state of technological dependence in the critical sectors, we need to move for adequacy in technology” Radhakrishnan, who headed the Indian space program between 2009 and 2014 as the chairman of Space Commission, the secretary of the Department of Space and ISRO chairman, said as he addressed the 12th convocation of the Ahmedabad University (AU) that saw 439 degrees conferred, including 258 undergraduate degrees, 178 graduate degrees and degrees to four doctoral students.
He also urged the students to be the leaders of innovation and technology rather than merely being followers. He also hailed ATIRA (Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association) and the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) that “nucleated the Indian space program”. However, “as time progressed”, Radhakrishnan pointed out, “we lagged behind in many areas.”
“…especially in the manufacturing sector. Once upon a time, we were leaders but the technology changed. We could not catch up and again we depended on importing machinery and the products. Manufacturing and material technology hold the key for self-reliance in engineering,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor Pankaj Chandra announced that AU has plans to further expand its disciplines with three schools in the near future—one for public health that is scheduled for launch this year, another for performing and visual arts, and a school of medicine, in addition, to a center of advanced manufacturing.
He also added that the Board of Governors Saturday “gave an in-principle approval to start a dual-degree program in integrated arts to focus on performing and visual arts, and also to offer Masters program in quantitative economics and quantitative finance.”
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