Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his August 15 speech at the Red Fort, Nirmala Sitharaman began her speech at the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing Kancheepuram (IIITDM Kancheepuram) saying, “The slogan no longer ends at ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ and also includes ‘Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan’.” She further added, “It is these two slogans that will make it possible for India to reach an advanced economic status by 2047.”
IIITDM, Kancheepuram held its tenth convocation on Saturday, September 10, with the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs as chief guest. IITDM Kancheepuram which was established in 2007, has already achieved the status of an Institute of National Importance under the IIIT ACT, 2014. It is one of the few institutes in India that provides design-based Engineering courses.
Addressing the students at the convocation, the FM stressed the importance of their contribution to the overall development of the country and how technology and innovation can become the soft power that India needs.
The aim, according to the Finance Minister, is for India to become the land for manufacturing and be self-sufficient such that no supply chain disruption causes the country’s manufacturing to suffer. She quotes the UN population statistics of India taking over China’s working population by 2028 to further underline the importance of skill training in India. “We have been dedicating ourselves to allocating resources in the budget and making sure such institutes draw best of our talents and such so that we can create an ecosystem which can help in training people who have an inclination for innovation.”
However, despite the advantage of the democratic dividend, India might fall short if there is no proper training and equality in opportunity. Although the FM acknowledges that, she insists that a proper ecosystem for training and skill development has been one of the primary concerns of the government. She highlights that by shedding light on the achievements of Indian higher education throughout the years, “58 top-notch companies have Indian origin CEOs.” She also mentioned National Education Policy’s (NEP) emphasis on higher education. She ended her speech with a reference to 2022’s budget allocation for 750 virtual labs in Science and Math and 75 skilling e-labs for simulated learning environments.
Post-pandemic era has witnessed a boom in digital learning and to facilitate that further, the government seems to have taken the right step. The soft power of technology and innovation in India can only be enhanced by proper investment in training; be it digital or in person. It is essential that the country make proper use of this advantage and find a way to compete with the world to achieve its desired goals by 2047.
