I am indeed delighted to participate in this beautiful function and launch the Digital Library of India Portal. After hearing today's proceedings, I am convinced that India has taken the initiative at the right time, which will have economic and social impact. The Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore are partners in this mission. It is an important programme piloted by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT). My greetings to all of you.

The mission of Digital Library is indeed bigger than all of us. Million books have to be digitized by 2005 in India. The programme is progressing in the right direction. When it is completed, it will be an important contribution by MCIT. I read an article on the proposal, a year back on Digital Library by Prof Raj Reddy and Prof N. Balakrishnan. I am now seeing the proposal becoming a reality. I was accustomed to launch of rockets and missiles. I am happy to launch this mission of Digital Library of India. My greetings to the team of CMU, IISc and all the participating institutions.

Digital Library for everybody

Last night I was preparing for this talk, in my Study in the computer, when my friend Prof Balakrishnan was sitting with me and discussing. I asked Prof Balki, " you see all around me books in my home library. Wherever I turn in any direction, all the books invite and tempt me to read. They are my friends. In such a situation, the Digital Library of India with its mission, will it be user friendly like my home library?" Prof Balakrishnan gave me a beautiful lecture to my question. The message what he gave was:

(a) Digital library will not replace the home library nor should it be addressing people who can afford to have their own library.

(b) Digital library gives equitable access, irrespective of place, caste, creed or colour or economic status.

The mix of partners (about 15) reveals wide spectrum of colleges, universities, religious institutions, government organizations and Rashtrapati Bhavan. This itself shows Digital Library of India unites rather than divides. Digital library is where the past meets the present and creates a future.

Digital Library : National knowledge preservation

Saturday night, the IISc team was with serious faces at this very hall. I asked them what the problem is. The team informed me that the 250 GB (Giga Bytes) disk has crashed during their operation. How to recover the 30,000 books in time for the function today. It is like, equivalent to a library of 30,000 books, lost in a fire accident, similar to what happened in Alexandria. How to reconstruct the data or the books in the disk. Fortunately, there was a software that can correct and repair the disk. In a few hours time, the team made it operational with happiness. That means you have rebuilt with almost no cost and within a limited time. I realize that the Library is a wealth - particularly our ancient books and classics including millions of palm leaves - there is an urgent need for digitizing. We should not lose our national wealth. The Digital Library of India has to take it as an important mission.

Digitization independent of Languages

The Digital Library of India that we are launching today should contribute to our economic growth to some extent. Will it? It will definitely contribute, if the digital library is independent of language - particularly for a country like India which has many languages. Here lies the challenge. It is a fertile research ground for both CMU and IISc and other educational institutions - about 25 PhDs can be produced in this topic alone to push the frontiers of knowledge in Language Independent Digital Library (LIDL).

Digital Library Mission 2005

I see the computer here which is similar to the PC that I have in my office with connectivity to all places. Prof Balki says, 30,000 books are inside this computer. In a decade's time, the same size computer would be able to store one thousand time more data - that means 30 millions books in the same PC.

Digital library indeed would combat Digital Divide. Digital Divide is of great concern for us in India. I would like to suggest the MCIT and MHRD to provide one Digital Library of 100,000 books library, like in this PC, should reach every college and school in this country with connectivity to outside world by 2005. Since we have fibre optic cables, satellite communication and wireless infrastructure in position, it is essential to realize high band-width technology like 10 Gb (Giga Bits). Above all, just like I am seeing in my library, the book titles attracting me, I would like the first page of the Digital Library on a Laptop - will have SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) profile of individuals or schools/colleges.

May you be a master authority who uses the power of realization to stop being weak and to become powerful. May this Digital Library of India give us the knowledge realization.

Thank you.

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