National Knowledge Commission: A transformation to Knowledge Economy P K Jain & Geeta Khulbe

Genesis and Growth of NKC The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Man Mohan Singh constituted National Knowledge Commission on 13th June 2005, to sharpen Knowledge Service Sectors of India The vision of NKC was to devise and guide reforms to help India’s transformation into a strong and vibrant knowledge economy.

The organizational structure

The NKC portal is available at http://knowledgecommission. gov The NKC portal is available at http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/ in 12 languages including English, Hindi, Nepali and other Indian Regional Languages.  

Knowledge Paradigm of NKC India is the fastest growing economy and overall it is fifth largest economy of world. The World Bank has forecast, India will become fourth largest economy by 2020.   For becoming successful in achieving such an empirical and epistemic shift, NKC was constituted with a knowledge paradigm. NKC identified five major focus areas. These are access, concepts, creation, application and services. NKC defines ‘Access’ as easy access to knowledge; ‘Concepts’ as all levels and forms of education; ‘Creation’ as effective creation of knowledge; ‘Application’ as knowledge systems; and ‘Services’ as delivery of services such as e-governance.

Access to Knowledge Access to knowledge deals with providing accurate knowledge to general public.

Literacy India started its National Literacy Mission (NLM) on 5th May 1988

Language   India is a multilingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious country where there are more than 850 living languages, of which 22 are official languages.[9] There are 1652 mother tongues according to the 1961 Census of India, out of which more than 400 are tribal languages. NKC stresses that language is relevant not only as a means of communication or a medium of instruction but also as a determinant of access.

Translation Access of Knowledge requires high quality translated material for strengthening people's participation in education and the creation and dissemination of knowledge. NKC also gave a proposal to set up the National Translation Mission (NTM)that would identifying gaps, promote good quality translation, training, disseminating information about translation and translators, and co-ordinate the ongoing work by public and private organisations. The Key activities of the proposed National Translation Mission are:[12] 1.Translator education 2.Information dissemination 3.Promotion and dissemination of good quality translation material 4.Promotion of machine translation

Libraries Libraries foster global access to information and they are central hubs of our knowledge infrastructure. According to NKC, libraries play two distinct roles - to serve as a local centre of information and knowledge, and be a local gateway to national and global knowledge. It recommended for achieving the above goals libraries must modernize their collection, services and facilities. Set up a National Commission on Libraries Prepare a National Census of all Libraries Revamp LIS Education, Training and Research facilities Re-assess staffing of libraries Set up a Central Library Fund Modernize library management Encourage greater community participation in library management Promote Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications in all libraries Facilitate donation and maintenance of private collections Encourage Public Private Partnerships in LIS development

Networks A network refers to any interconnected group or system. Further, National Knowledge Commission envisaged the vision of establishing an efficient and cost effective network design to interconnect all Universities, R&D institutions, S&T institutions; Health service facilities, Agriculture research and extension institutions and Libraries in the country.

Portals NKC is determined to provide single point of access to citizens of India through public portals for exercising their fundamental right to information. It recommends for creation of web portals as a significant tool for right to information, decentralization, transparency, accountability and participation of the people. Presently four major portals have been launched for Energy, Water, Teacher and Environmental Sector are available at http://www.indiaenergyportal.org/; http://www.indiawaterportal.org/; http://www.teachersofindia.org/ and http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/ respectively.

Knowledge Concepts The organization, distribution and transmission of education is the base of knowledge concepts. Development of knowledge society is dependant on Education System. NKC concerns with many aspects of the Indian education system which covers school education, higher education, professional education, and vocational education.

School Education India is making a effort to universalize Elementary Education under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which covers all States and Union Territories and reaches out to 19.4 crore children in 12.3 lakh habitations. NKC examined school education across the country with the issues relating its access and quality.

Vocational Education NKC recommends for a model of imparting vocational education that is flexible, sustainable, inclusive and creative. It suggests for significant increase in public and private investment in Vocational Education and Training (VET).

Higher Education   India has one of the largest 'Higher Education System in the world. There were only 20 Universities and 500 in Colleges at the time of independence in 1947 but today there are 416 Universities out of which 251are State Universities, 24 Central Universities, 103 Deemed Universities, 5 Institutions established under State legislations and 33 Institutes of National Importance established an Act of Parliament in 1956 for the by Central legislation.

Medical Education Keeping in view the wide disparity in the distribution of health professionals and health services in India NKC recommended for reforms in medical education with inclination towards care-driven, rural oriented and equitable health services. These submissions are really essential for economic growth and improved quality of life in India.

Legal Education NKC report 2006 says ‘Legal education is a vital link in the creation of knowledge concepts as well as in the application of such concepts in society. ‘Legal Education is essentially a multi-disciplined, multi-purpose education which can develop the human resources and idealism needed to strengthen the legal system of the country’.

Management Education NKC has given many recommendations for raising standards and promoting excellence in management education in India.

Engineering Education NKC stressed for increase in the quality and number of engineers produced in India as the country is moving towards new opportunities of manufacturing and Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO).

Open and Distance Education Open and distance learning is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education, and its potential impact on all education delivery systems has been greatly accentuated through the development of Internet-based information technologies, and in particular the World Wide Web.[23] World largest Open university and India’s National Open University- Indira Gandhi National open university has at present 1.85 million students to its enrollment which is 18 percent of the students enrolled for higher education in India. India has 35 private open distance education centres, 15 state supported universities and 60 conventional universities in the country that offer distance education.

Knowledge Creation Knowledge Creation is the key to identifying and analyzing new knowledge.

Science & Technology India is regarded as one of the top-ranking countries in the field of basic research. NKC recommendations for S&T are related to setting up of studies on futuristic interdisciplinary areas in S&T, envisaging its use as a crucial tool for development and facilitating it to solve problems of the poor and the underprivileged.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) NKC on the similar line suggested for development of effective legal systems for IPR enforcement and availability of accurate and detailed ready-to-use IPR information.

Innovation India has made rapid strides in the world of research and development in the last few years with a growth rate of Indian economy at 6-8% per year. NKC in view to this recommended for a cross-cutting, multipronged strategy to make India’s innovation system better which meets the needs of the common people. It foresees a National Innovation System, where entrepreneurship at the national and local levels is encouraged.

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is a critical element of a growth economy. Entrepreneurship in India is on the rise and is generating opportunities for wealth creation, employment-generation and social good. NKC has given some recommendations like Supportive Business Environment with Single window Clearance, introduction to New Institutional Mechanisms like commercial courts, introducing Introduce Limited Liability Partnerships, establishment of a Global Technology Acquisition Fund for Intellectual Property.

Knowledge Application Knowledge Application is converting specialized information into practical tools and putting it into practice in the real world. Knowledge application is the use of past knowledge to help solving the current problem.

Traditional Knowledge NKC in view to this has suggested enhancing India’s Ayurveda, yoga and other traditional health-care systems. It also recommended for enrichment of digitization of India’s medical manuscripts project Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL).

Agriculture Agriculture in India is one of the most prominent sectors in its economy. It is the means of livelihood of almost two thirds of the work force in the country and a huge percent of the total GDP stems from the agriculture sector. It ranks second worldwide in farm output. NKC considered application of knowledge in agriculture will improve the agrarian economy and support the Indian farmer with a competitive edge in the global market.

Aqua Foods India is a major maritime State with fourth position in the world in total fish production. The country has an annual growth rate of over 6% in acquaculture. NKC believes that the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the country is poised to play a major role in the lives of the people in the coming decades.

Delivery of Services Government Agencies in India are realizing that increase in interaction and participation between citizens and the State is the key to drive economy. NKC includes E-governance as a mechanism for providing delivery of services to its citizens empowering them with increased transparency in government functioning, leading to greater efficiency and productivity.

E-Governance Over the past decade in India there have been islands of e-Governance initiatives taken up at the National, State, district and even block level. Based on these experiences from successes as well as the failures NKC gave some recommendations which will play an important role in shaping the e governance strategy of the country. It also advised for initiation of all national programmes like Bharat Nirman, Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and others with well-engineered e-governance and web-based service.

NKC Index NKC has prepared policies to boost research, technology transfer, skill and knowledge development to strengthen India’s competitive position in the global knowledge economy. Its index will measure India’s performance as a knowledge economy and will provide decision support for policy making on growth and development. National knowledge Index (NKI) through its key parameters monitors the performance measure for present and future development of the country. In the coming future it will be use as benchmark for comparing India with developed countries and competitor countries.

Conclusion This Commission has enabled the Government and other related bodies understand not just the magnitude and importance of the problems, but also make certain that the system makes opportunities available to all throughout the country.

Thank You For further queries, please contact pkjain@iegindia.org