Introduction
India is bestowed with the most sophisticated, talented minds, especially in the field of sports, economics, literature, commerce, law, social activism, science and academics. The country is known to have one of the largest young populations in the world. Besides being the third largest Asian economy, the country is also leading the world when it comes to democracy. With a rich cultural heritage, the scholars in ancient India were revered because of their wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. The field of cinema and entertainment in the country also offers a huge talent that is well recognised by the world. However, on innovation front, we lag a little behind at the global stage. Many brilliant minds in India decide to go abroad because of a high living standards and access to wide-ranging opportunities.
Viewpoint
• In India, it is said that the scientists and academicians do not get enough respect and recognition as compared to what they deserve. In a land where once upon a time, sages got enough respect in the society for their knowledge, today’s professors and lecturers in India have to go through a number of problems like inadequacies in infrastructure and salaries. They do not get approval for teaching posts at right time and students are often left on their own fate. The Indian educational system is not at the best today as it lacks the ability to innovate and advance in order to face the challenges of the present century adequately. The researchers and scientists in India choose to work in foreign countries as they do not get enough incentives for their in India. Because of this, Indian innovations are not in plenty and rather much below the desired potential.
• The Indian government has been spending a huge amount to provide subsidised education in the fields like medicine, law, engineering and technology. Students are taking advantage of this and ultimately using their qualifications, knowledge and skills to get cushy jobs abroad instead of looking for an opportunity to work in India for the betterment of the country. A mass migration of IIT students to countries like US and the UK can be observed very easily. This has happened because they aspire for a better job and spend a comfortable living in more advanced countries. Though innovation is known to be born in India, it is patented in the US along with other developed countries.
• The Indian people are facing an outdated education system that has no scope of encouragement to students so to enhance their critical thinking skills. The trend is simply to mug textbooks, attend the coaching classes and attend the exams. Students are no longer free to learn and understand at their own speed after critical analysis so that they could think out of the box and unique. Parents are more eager to push their children into safe occupations instead of encouraging them to indulge in critical thinking and innovation to become entrepreneurs or leaders.
• The mindset of Indian people is more inclined to follow rules rather than discovering new things. Be it administration or management, everywhere there are strict processes, methods or steps to be followed for every project and thus, usually no one gets a favourable condition to come up with new ideas. If one tends to propose innovative solution to something, it is seen as if a person is trying to oppose the existing establishment. In such a situation, it becomes extremely difficult to generate courage to innovate.
• Though India is full of talent, it is also a fact that it offers fewer opportunities as against advanced Scandinavian countries or the US. It takes a long time for business clearances and permissions to fructify and the system is so badly plagued with bribery and graft that it usually takes days for a single file to move and reach the authorities. So far as start-ups are concerned, funding has always been a problem. Indian companies attracting foreign funding are usually those that can develop and sustain innovation in field of production and manufacturing.
Conclusion
India has to cover a long way before it would be able to catch up with the talented people who are Indian citizens. Radical thinkers do not get appreciation for their ideas as the aim is simply to stick to something that is considered safe and viable. Therefore, people need to change and step out and challenge themselves to innovate and discover new ways. The system particularly needs to change if it expects people to deliver better results. Though all parties in India constantly promise positive change, the question always remains as who will be actually delivering the result.