By IANS,
New York : Obliquely referring to the India-US civilian nuclear deal, which has put the Manmohan Singh government in peril, Indian ambassador Ronen Sen has defended India’s efforts to augment power generation and criticised those who oppose the use of technology.
Asserting that technology is a tool for empowerment and emancipation, he said: “Those who oppose use of technology have proved wrong time and again.”
Addressing the golden jubilee conference of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)Bombay here Sunday, Sen attributed the progress India is witnessing today, including in the IT sector, to the visionary initiatives made of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi.
Nehru had envisioned the IITs and Rajiv Gandhi was a votary of IT and reform in the telecommunications sector, he said.
“Even at that time there were people opposing increasing use of technology arguing that all the technology is not relevant to India and those advocating it do not know about rural India,” Sen commented.
In view of India becoming the most populous country in the world by year 2050, he said that all challenges facing India cannot be met without rapid increase in power generation.
Critics miss the point that latest technology is the ultimate tool to meet the most basic requirements of the people, he said.
On the occasion, the ambassador heaped fulsome praise on the IITs, saying, “During my four years as ambassador to the US, I have been filled with pride that so many IITians are doing so well here and contributing to the economic progress of the country.”
Referring to the character of an IITian, Asok, in the popular Dilbert cartoon strip, he said, “the IITs have become a symbol of new India.”