Address at the PSG College of Technology and Polytechnic College Coimbatore 25 August 2007 National Development and Engineering Education “Small aim is a crime” I am delighted to address and interact with the students and Faculty members of PSG College of Technology and Polytechnic College. When I am in the midst of the students and teachers of PSG College, I would like to pay tribute to the work Shri G R Damodaran the Founder of this College who had the vision of promoting the cause of a technological institution in this part of the country right in the 1950s. I am happy thal PSG College of Technology has the mission to provide world-class engineering education, foster research and development, evolve innovative applications of technology, encourage entrepreneurship and ultimately mould young men and women capable of assuming leadership of the society for the betterment of the country. My greetings to Principal, Faculty Members and students. While I am with you I would like to talk on the topic National Prosperity Index. 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 Page | of 2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. Page 2 of 2I suggest that faculty members of PSG College of Technology 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 the Government. Now, let us study the ambience 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, ies of 20 energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connecti 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 Page 3 of 3