New Delhi: India's problems of poverty, infrastructure, water, education, health, agriculture and population can be solved through an effective design mechanism for those at the bottom of the pyramid, Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda said today (Dec 5, 2006).

"India's have the ability to solve its age-old problems of poverty, infrastructure, water, education, health, agriculture and population can be solved with the help of proper design mechanism," Pitroda said in a seminar - Design with India - organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

"Designing is not just creating good-looking gadgets like mobile handsets and cars, it's about solving problems by catering to the needs of those who are at the bottom of the pyramid," he told the conference in pre-recorded message from Chicago. 

Pitroda, who is also one of the board members of Institute of Design in Chicago, said, that India's success story in telecommunications was possible due to application of knowledge by designing it according to the needs of the people. 

"Over the years our policies have failed to address the needs of the poor only because we lack the knowledge of how to design a solution which will help addressing issues like slum, sanitation, clean water, deforestation," he averred.

He said India has always done the mistake of following the West for meeting design solutions and this practice should be stopped, because India should solve its own problems indigenously.

"It's time we stop looking at the West and take designing to a different level altogether," he said.