Page:SELECTED ESSAYS of Dr. S. S. KALBAG.pdf/72

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such problems can be good material for fundamental research. This is how research into cholera or malaria started. The linkage between the research group and the field where it will be applied must be good for that research to be effective in application. The information system will be used for feedback on programme implementation, current economic indices, local surpluses and deficits and perceived needs and problems. We need an information system that can list and document such problems that need technical solution and for which an economic value can be assigned. We also need agencies that are waiting to fund projects of this nature. With these, I do not see why the existing science and technology and education institutions will not be able to solve most of the problems and make the application of such development work almost automatic. If the above proposed two-way linkage between the rural needs and the technical expertise for solving the country's problems is established, the population at large will reap the benefits of science and technology and will willingly supply more funds for research and development activity. They will then see modern technology in not only distant space applications but also in their immediate environment. This does not have to be hi-tech; in most cases it will be the imaginative application of what is already known and used elsewhere. Such a system will improve our education by linking it to real life situations and it will produce development by using the education system as the channel for delivery of technology. What has been said for rural areas is equally valid for the whole country. Rural Development Through Education System 59