ICT should reach all, says Pitroda

Skill development component should be included in NREGS

Addressing a seminar “Transforming India: Reaching the bottom of the pyramid” organised as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of C-DOT in Bangalore he said, information technology should reach various socio-economic segments.

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) Director Pankaj Chandra felt a skill development component should be incorporated in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for skill building among the rural masses. He said unless the large number of youth in the country are adequately trained in various sectors, the country will not be able to reap the benefits of democratic dividend.

Second vision

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam called upon C-DOT engineers to embark on a “second vision”in the competitive world of telecom. He stressed the importance of leadership qualities and recalled how the former Isro chairman Satish Dhawan, under whom he worked, always took the blame when there was a failure and passed the credit to his team when there was success in space projects.

Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art of Living Foundation said an action plan need to be put in place to ensure that the 212 naxal hit districts in the country are brought back to normalcy. Technology has to reach the bottom of the pyramid to achieve this, he said. Kalam also launched “India Think Tank” a non-profit initiative of C-DOT Alumni.