Social

Responsibility
of

Engineering
Educators
P.L.Dhar
I I T Delhi

WHY ?
We should be concerned
about the consequences of
the education imparted by
us
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Our future depends upon the education of the youth

What Consequences ?
How are our engineers
benefiting the society ?
How is Modern Technology
benefiting the society ?
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Phenomenal growth in GDP

wealth of the nations !

The Great Divide

In Vidarbha every
day 3 farmers
have committed
suicide during last
one year

30% population
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below poverty line

($1 a day)
80% population
below $2 per day

The Great Divide

Per capita income(2004)
Norway $52030
Africa $100

Inequity is increasing .for

S every Rs 100 generated by growth
R in India, the poorest 20% would
receive Rs8.9 while the richest 20%
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would receive Rs45.
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The Environmental Problems

Global Warming and its
consequences
Resource depletion
especially oil
Increasing Strife - crime,
violence, extremism
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Should the engineering educators

be concerned about these issues?

Social Responsibility of
Engineering Educators
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How to respond ?

How to Respond ?
Identify the root causes for
these problems.
Find alternatives, if any ?
Examine their feasibility.
Analyze the impact of world
view on technology and society
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The search for root causes ..

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Is inequity because of intrinsic

differences in motivation,
intelligence, abilities among people ?
Is it because of the nature of
technology or the model of
development ?
Is it because of the materialistic
world view prevalent today ?

Happiness lies solely in sensory pleasures obtained

through material acquisition

The search for root causes ..

Understanding the Model of Development

Increase wealth of nation

through Planned growth in
agriculture and industry-emphasis on centralized
technologies economies of scale

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The wealth would trickle down

to masses thus alleviating
poverty

The search for root causes ..

Understanding the characteristics of modern technology

Centralization , Automation , Planned

obsolescence
Centralization =>Capital Intensive ( Only
the rich can make best use of modern technological
developments )

=> increasing inequity

Automation => unemployment

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Planned obsolescence => consumerism ,

ecological disaster

The search for root causes....

appreciating limitations of materialistic world view

Materialistic world view promotes

consumerism ,ostentatious living

criminal economy , strife
resource depletion
ecological disaster

Rejects
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simple living , self control

rejects appropriate technologies
the spirit of Service
...from seva to naukri

The search for root causes..

Materialistic world view
Centralized technology using
automation for mass production
and creating artificial demands
through advertising
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Increasing inequity, strife, ecological problems

The search for alternatives

Gandhian Model (1909)

Gandhian View :Development should be

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holistic & Non-exploitative, i.e. sustainable

concept of ahimsa
Need for self control : swaraj
Possible only in Self sufficient Village
Republics : Gram-swaraj & Swadeshi --wealth generation in a distributed manner &
not re-distribution of wealth generated
centrally
Need for Rural Industrialization -decentralized production

Why was Gandhian Model

Ignored ?

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Technical feasibility : Is it possible to

have production by masses in a manner
that can compete with mass
production?
Social feasibility Is it possible to bring
about a change in the world view of
society?
Gandhijis call to scientists and
technologists in 1934

Social Responsibility of
Engineering Educators
To re orient engineering
education so that engineers can
respond to these challenges

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Our survival in 21st Century

will depend on it.

Technical
feasibility.I

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Innovative designs to
improve acceptability
Improve product quality ,
develop simple low cost
techniques for quality
assurance
Improve working conditions
, hygiene
Improve productivity &
Reduce costs without
displacing labour

Technical feasibility II
Improve packaging and
marketing
Reduce energy consumption
without increasing capital
costs, , increase energy
availability => appropriately

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Identify niche areas / products

where decentralized
manufacturing has a natural
edge

Technical feasibility: the challenge of

Rural Industrialization

Need for an Institutional Mechanism to

provide S , T & M inputs to this sector

Lab to land transition

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Empowering
artisans &
craftsmen

Participatory technology development

IIT Delhis recent efforts in this

direction
Setting up of MGIRI (Mahatma Gandhi
Institute for Rural Industrialization), in
Wardha ( Min of ARI )
Linking NGOs with it
Linking 12 prominent S &T institutions of the
country with it as its TIUs (Technical Interface
Units)
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Demonstrating the efficacy of S ,T & M

interventions in strengthening rural
Industrialization

Social Feasibility demands ..

Change in the
world view
through
Education in
Human Values
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IIT Delhis recent efforts in this

direction
Setting up of

National Resource Centre

V E

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alue
ducation in
ngineering in
for
2001
Developing possible frameworks for value
education
Conducting workshops for developing course
material for value education of engineering
students
Introducing the students to various
methodologies of value inculcation

Cardinal Principles of Value

Education

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The foundation should not be

made dependent on myth, or authority
Provoke the students to analyze the world and the
experiences of their own life
-its goals, aspirations,etc.
Value dimension should permeate teaching
Give practical training in self-restraint &
self observation to actually inculcate values
Teachers as senior students, nor moral masters

Concluding Remarks

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All the problems of modern times , be these technogenic or

social, have their roots in the materialistic world view
and the technology based on this world view
Only a change in the world view can usher a change in
life style, and technologies needed to survive beyond
21st Century.
Education in human values is the foremost need of 21st
Century. Only that can usher in a holistic world view
and alternative eco friendly technologies.
Technology has increased the vulnerability of society to
strife and violence
Mere technological innovations will not solve even the
technogenic problems, leave aside the social problems
like strife and violence.

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Thank You All !