Our Achilles Heel
Page - 1
A friend of mine, who hikes
frequently in the Himalayas, showed me a solar torch the other day which gives
light for seven hours before you need to recharge it in the sun. It has a hook
for hanging and can light up a small room. My friend uses it for camping. But
what a boon, I thought, for our 250,000 villages without electricity and the
millions of school children who can't do homework at night, and village women
who fear walking after dark. I googled the maker of the torch and discovered an
inspiring story about how to be both a good and an effective human being.
Mark Bent, an American, worked
for 20 years in Africa, and saw the waste behind government aid programs. He
came home and invented what he calls the BoGo solar torch. BoGo means 'Buy One,
Give One'. When you buy one flashlight for Rs 1,000, Mark gives one at half
price to NGOs in Africa, who give it to villagers at a nominal price. Mark makes
the torches in China to keep costs low.
The story is remarkable not
because Mark is a 'do-gooder' but because he has found an innovative and
sustainable way to profit from the rich and benefit the poor. Rich campers bring
light to African villagers. I hope some NGO in India will google Mark and begin
distributing these torches here.
Now, why couldn't one of our boys
or girls invent and market this lamp? The answer, of course, is our education
system, which stifles all creativity through rote learning. It was modelled on
the British system, but the British have moved on and reformed theirs, partly
under American inspiration. But our kids are still stuck in a world of cramming
and coaching classes. The disease lies in the lack of autonomy.
The Ministry of HRD and its
children, University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) have a stranglehold. A college cannot decide what courses to
teach, what fees to charge and what salaries to pay its professors. How could
creativity emerge from this servitude? Creating new universities, as the PM
proposes, is not the answer unless you give them autonomy.
