LEADER ARTICLE
Media Lab Mess: India Can't Afford an Ego War

This sure was a short marriage. The Media Lab Asia (MLA) project, joint venture between our government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, born only in June 2001, is history. Frankly, given the haste with which the project was conceived without any homework merely to give photo ops to politicians, and the way it meandered initially without a full time CEO, its fate does not come as a surprise.However, if the beginning was bad, the end has been worse. Whatever might be the reason behind the divorce - MIT's $5 million royalty demand, or the need for funding from a developing nation when its own source of funding has dried up, or that MLA's track record of developing esoteric products is not in line with that for the mass products they had expected, or the absence of promised private funding - the government of India's handling of the matter has been amateurish. Arun Shourie has been telling whoever is willing to listen that his ministry has asked MIT to leave. He was at his sarcastic best in one report saying, that he asked MIT to leave, but if it gives it (MIT) solace to say that it pulled out, then he would give it that satisfaction. One fails to understand where was the need to bring ego into this issue? Our IITs are excellent, no doubt. In fact, they may actually be better than MIT in developing what MLA was supposed to do, for they understand Indian needs better than anyone. But why antagonise an academic institution like MIT? What we might have done in the process is antagonise the entire US educational set-up. Couldn't the break-up have been handled more tactfully so that both parties did not lose face? Our IITs are excellent at the under- graduate level, but at the post-graduate level, we are nowhere. For that, our academicians have to rely on quality US universities. Hundreds of Indians have gained from higher education in the US. Would this have been possible if they had gained higher education in, say Denmark or Australia? The truth is that the best technology is in the US. Let us not underestimate the power wielded by ranking US universities. If we have egos, they have bigger ones, and the fact is that our academicians cannot really do without them. One hopes Mr Shourie realises his mistake and promptly resorts to some damage control. Hopefully, the situation is not irretrievable. As for the project itself, one hopes with the IITs' involvement, things will improve, and to some extent, the trend of reverse engineering which is currently pursued in the name of R&D is reversed. Talking about R&D, one only needs to look at India's finest endeavour in the field so far - C-DoT. The premier telecom R&D outfit benefited immensely from the political backing provided by Sam Pitroda and the technical acumen of G B Meemamsi. The result was there for all to see. It provided a tremendous bargaining chip, forcing multinationals to lower the prices of their digital switches to under a quarter of the rates they had charged so far. Also, the telecom boom witnessed in the country, especially in the form of STD/ISD booths which dot the countryside now, is entirely due to the rural exchanges developed by C-DoT. But no sooner had the centre made a name for itself, political meddling and egos came into play. Initially it was the Nambiar committee, which muzzled the effort due to an ego clash with Mr Pitroda. Subsequently, whenever the centre showed signs of re-emerging, politicians repeatedly forced it to depart from its stated mandate and develop products to suit their egos. So recently, we had the centre expend its limited resources on developing a mobile switch when it should actually have concentrated on upgrading its existing product range. The result has been an imported mobile switch with little value addition, while the main line switch, its life- line, remains straddled with obsolete features. This is unfortunate because in terms of money and time spent vis-a-vis results, C-DoT was undoubtedly the crowning glory of India's R&D effort. One really hopes that with the promise of delivering products which India really needs, the media lab does not fall into the same trap. For that, Mr Shourie would have to ensure that the alacrity with which he ousted MIT is maintained to insulate the project from unnecessary meddling from politicians and bureaucrats. More important, let the project not lose track of its objectives by worrying about piffling matters like salaries paid to consultants. Several professors in leading institutions make millions through independent assignments. They are permitted to do so. Let this not be dictated by some bureaucrat who tries to interpret the rule book to satisfy his ego. R&D the world over is run differently. There are no straitjacket rules for R&D. Therefore, conventional administration does not help. Since Mr Shourie has repeatedly mentioned his interactions with IIT professors, he must surely have heard this too. And now that there is talk of involving the HRD ministry as well, let there be some genuine effort to improve education standards at the post-graduate level. In that respect, the MIT break-up might prove to be a blessing in disguise.