New Delhi:  The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) will present to the nation a set of radical recommendations for reform which has the potential to fundamentally transform the country's knowledge sector and make it truly cutting edge. 

 The overriding theme of the recommendations will be to create an 'inclusive society where access to knowledge will be the centerpiece of the reform.

According to advance excerpts of the report obtained by IANS, Sam Pitroda, the Chicago-based chairman of the Commission, says, "We hope that the work we have done during our first year will be of value to the government and will find the enthusiasm and support of the administration in its implementation. We also hope that our recommendations will receive the attention they deserve and create necessary public discussion, debate and dialogue to generate a favorable public opinion. We say this with a particular emphasis on the 550 million people below the age of 25 who hold in their hands the destiny of not just India but the world as well."

"While making the recommendations we have been guided by how knowledge will impact the lives of ordinary hardworking people of India. We are conscious that knowledge is about farmers having access to accurate information about water resources, land quality and fertilisers, students having access to schools and colleges of high quality and good libraries, scientists having access to well equipped modern laboratories, industry having access to skilled workforce and people generally having right to information and good governance," Pitroda says in the foreword to the report.

Six of the ten recommendations made by the commission deal with access at a time when pressures on admission to schools and universities has become a highly politicized subject.

"We have done so consciously in keeping with the UPA Government's philosophy of building an inclusive society. The emerging knowledge society and associated opportunities present a set of new imperatives and new challenges for our industry, economy, government and society. Our future prosperity depends upon the policies, programmes and people that foster continuous generation and application of knowledge and pursuit of learning," the report says.

"We have addressed a wide range of subjects including a comprehensive reform of higher education, overhaul of public libraries, creation of a Knowledge Network, setting up of national portals, transformation of vocational education, re-engineering of government processes and making e-governance citizen-centric whose impact would be felt over the next decade. We have taken particular care to keep the entire process democratic, transparent and participative," it says.

The report to the nation, which is expected to become an annual exercise, comes amid some controversial comments by the commission's deputy chairman Pushp Bhargava that he was not consulted on the recommendations about higher education. There have also been doubts expressed over the eventual effectiveness of the NKC's recommendations.

Pitroda has sought to play down such criticism saying the functioning of the NKC has been transparent and democratic.

 "Is it news that there are disagreements? I don't think so," he said.
 

Pitroda told sources  he was somewhat reminded of the days when he introduced reforms in the country's telecommunications sector in the mid 1980s.

 "People then thought I was crazy to want to turn India into an information and technology power. Two decades down the line no one is debating that assertion. I am sure the same thing will happen with the NKC recommendations," he said.

The NKC recommendations are wide ranging, taking in their sweep higher education, vocational training, libraries, e-governance, right to education and translations. Each of the recommendations has been crafted to achieve the objective of tapping into India's 'enormous' reservoir of knowledge and prepare the country for the challenges of the 21st century.