'India should be technologically advanced, culturally rooted'

Mysuru, Jan 6: Cautioning that advancement of technology in society tends to "promote monocultures", a technology think-tank of the country has said India's 2035 vision should mean it is technologically as advanced as possible while culturally as much rooted.

"Diversity in culture and languages are a key defining feature of India.

These are at the very core of India's existence and are its very soul, giving our country its various hues of differences and harmony and making us a vibrant nation," said 'Technology Vision 2035', a document prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology.

"We need to be especially vigilant that no one culture is able to dominate others. Ever since the invention of the printing press, the advancement of technology in society has tended to promote monocultures."

"Caution has to be exercised to ensure that technology guided cultural practices enrich the existing cultural diversity of the nation and do not replace it," it said.

Underlining that vision for India in 2035 cannot be complete without envisaging how this core aspiration- expectation would influence or be shaped by the realities of that time, it said we would like India to be as advanced as possible technologically while culturally as much rooted.

"Cultural diversity and vibrancy is one among the twelve prerogatives that should be available to each and every Indian," said the vision document released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inaugural session of the 103rd Indian Science Congress here on Sunday.

It also said ensuring the attainment of these prerogatives is the core of our technology vision for India.

Noting that cultural practices have very strong tendencies to influence us, it said, more often than not these influences are subtle and hidden and this is where the power of cultural practices truly lies.

However, given the right direction, technology could help us in preserving and enhancing the rich cultural diversity of India.

Properly deployed, cultural diversity is a national asset and power multiplier, it added.

PTI