(ix) Greater Importance on Knowledge-based Enterprises
Knowledge-based enlightenment relating to all aspects of life - mind, body and soul - has been of general importance from the beginning of the recorded history. Great universities make it possible to develop biological, chemical, communications, mathematical, and metallurgical sciences and technologies spawned by them for production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
So it is not a surprise to see the success of industrialized countries today in an international open exchange environment of business and democratic systems. Innovation, risk-taking, political and scientific institutions and entrepreneurship grow out of the growing knowledge base.
The group of OECD countries today can be called knowledge-based societies and therefore the societies with the highest material progress.
India had a strong record of knowledge-based civilization and it has resumed its old trend in science and technology in the post-independence period since 1947. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru created a new base of scientific institutions that have produced excellent engineers, doctors, researchers, albeit in limited numbers due to importance of investments also going to immediate necessities like food, water, etc.
Even with a large migration of talented people out of India who have excelled in all endeavors wherever they have found a new home, India has made significant progress at home with a mere 3 percent of all Indians with higher education in 2013. (About 5 percent of all Indians are estimated to have achieved college level education of which 2 percent or so have gone abroad. More than 60 percent of 30 million Indians abroad i.e. 18 million have college education where as about 5 percent of 1200 million i.e. 60 million have college education. In other words the effective college level trained labor force in India is about 40 million.
Government and the private sector have begun the necessary expansion of higher education including technical education to realize the potential demographic dividend of faster economic growth otherwise the young population will remain a burden and a problem as it was thought of in the 1950s and 1960s. The concept and desire of a population/demographic dividend is crucially dependent on creating human capital in all areas of study. The process has begun and India should have 10 percent of its population with higher education, 50 percent with higher secondary and and one hundred percent by 2050 or sooner. At that level India will be able to compete effectively with the rest of the world with high degree of higher education.
India is on its way to be a knowledge-based society.
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