dissent, disagreement and diversity: agenda for national innovation council
It was very gratifying that in the first formal meeting of NIC held recently in Planning Commission, diverse opinions were expressed about how to take forward the agenda of inclusive innovation model for the country. While there was yet not a consensus on how will NIC prioritise the contending ideas and formats for taking agenda forward, it was clear that promotion of innovation will have to be pursued through a very diverse approach. If consensus indeed was, it was on the need to promote dissent, disagreements and diversity while pursuing various goals. The issue of announcing challenge awards for solving problems with which India has lived for centuries did not evoke a strong sentiment but reality show on television did. so much about inclusive agenda. It might not have occurred to the mandarins that most of the villages in Naxalite affected economically depressed regions do not have even electricity, the issue of their participation in reality shows does not arise. If radio had been chosen as a means of mobilising the minds of the masses, may be the social inclusion could have been achieved. But radio is perhaps not as glamorous for media or for the change agents. Another idea which was debated was a fund of funds to promote innovations. Hope was expressed that this fund with a large scale participation of private sector would make barriers to accessing risk capital by start ups lower. It was ignored that not all sectors suffer equal disadvantage in accessing risk capital. The history of venture capital and so called angel funds which have seldom invested in ideas, models or technologies which have not yet not become product, or proved their worth in market was ignored. The need to focus on sectors like ayush ( indian system of medicine like ayurvedic drugs) which can flourish only when tribal people become the active drivers of ethical and fair supply chains. But this is not on the agenda of NIC yet. If in the process the extremists elements in society deepen their roots, will we be forgiven for this lapse. Similarly, the investment in hundred of thousands ideas of students available at techpedia.in has not become a priority yet. Nor has investment in creative ideas of various village panchayats has become the focus of thousand crore fund. No attempt is being made yet to make the NREGA more entrepreneurial or empower landless labourers and artisans in experimenting with innovative approaches to solve their problems. No strategy has been developed to link formal and informal science so far.
It is obvious that connect between needs of masses and the systems of thinking at higher level will be forged only slowly. Society will have to remain vigilant so that the agenda of inclusive innovation is not hijacked by more privileged sections of society once again, as has happened in so many other initiatives. sooner or later, efforts like that of Honey Bee Network will have to be made points of main reference. After we have spent only little over two decades so far in persuading the nation about its innate creative potential. May be it will take another decade or two before text books of every class will have some lessons about grassroots innovations, list if pending problems still unsolved, and self inspired efforts of local communities to take charge of their destinies. seeds of impatience have to be sown in every mindbed.
Anil K Gupta
