IT mantra will put the country ahead — Bhatkar

Bhatkar affirmed that IT will emerge as India’s largest industry with assets and investments as high as Rs five lakh crore. The IT technology, if properly nurtured can create create millions of jobs, and create opportunities to the young minds. “In the next century, we must stop talking India in terms of one billion mouths to be fed, but one billion minds to be unleashed in the creative process of development. A touch of spiritual fervour has to be given to the development process to help it grow faster,” Bhatkar opined.

The former director of Centre for development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) stated that the creation of a worldclass supercomputer in the form of PARAM, the trail blazing technology called GIST and the installation of Advanced Computing Training School are the three major contributions dedicated to the nation by C-DAC. He said when his team received the C-DAC’s advanced computing mission, the choice of the city of Pune and also the timing in 1988 when India faced the denial of Supercomputer from USA, drived them to build PARAM.

Bhatkar stated that when world economies are being globalised with flood of technology that will sweep nations, it is necessary that we revisit the concepts of Swaraj, Swadeshi, Swabhasha and Swadharma, the planks of which leaders like Lokmanya Tilak brought us freedom. No nation can build its superstructure on borrowed foundation, technologies and cultures.

He cited the example of the development of PARAM, in 1991, which subsequently became available for the advanced countries. Many people had then questioned if C-DAC should continue its future missions and whether it should exist at all. However, he said, he had warned that supercomputer is a strategic technology and should a geo-politics crisis arise, India will once again be denied the crucial technology.

Bhatkar said that this is what precisely happened after Pokharan as C-DAC became the prime target of US sanctions. None of the advanced countries will help us in the times of crisis. Without supercomputers, we cannot possibly make advances in our space, atomic energy, and defence programmes. India’s research in supercomputing has given a crowning glory to our accomplishments in the IT field, he said.

Observing that he was wholly inspired and touched to receive the prestigious award, he said that the award meant that his work in computing and the crusade for bringing education to every home through IT is implicitly accepted by the people and has become truly “Lokmanya.”

The award carried a citation, memento, gold medal and a cash amount of Rs one lakh.

Dixit, while congratulating Bhatkar, said that now was the appropriate time for all the people to introspect how the country has developed and towards which path it is heading. Among others who were present included Mayor Dattatray Gaikwad, and other trustees including Deepak Tilak.