Clinton lauds IITians' role in global development

Hailing the role the Indian Institutes of Technology have "played in the growth of India and the United States" and expressing his "immense respect" for the academic and humanitarian work carried out by the IIT alumni, former US President Bill Clinton made an impassioned plea to them to continue their work in making the innovative technology create a better world.

IIT meet: A star-studded affair  

Referring to Akshaya Patra Clinton specially singled out IIT alumni, Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande "who feeds a million children a day" in India.

Akshaya Patra is backed by Deshpande (co-founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks), Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy, and hundreds of volunteers. The organisation offers free nutritious vegetarian food to children throughout their school years in several Indian states.

Clinton, a keynote speaker at the annual IIT 2009 Global Conference held from October 9-11 in Schaumburg, Illinois, received not only two standing ovations by nearly 2,000 IITians and other attendees but also enthusiastic applause throughout his speech.

Clinton, who could have easily asked for over $200,000 for making the speech to an audience of the size he addressed over the weekend in Schaumburg, took no honorarium, the organisers announced.

Throughout his 'calling-for-action speech', Clinton offered many vivid examples of how the industry, especially the drug manufacturers in India, have responded to the initiatives made by him and social entrepreneurs in recent years to provide low cost solutions to health and other related causes in countries ranging from India to South Africa to Haiti.

Increasingly it has become evident, Clinton said, that in the 21st century one cannot be truly successful "if you can't be a good citizen."

"What you do," he told the IITians involved in social entrepreneurship and increasing innovative technological programs "is immensely influential." The IIT network that fuels many social programs in India and encourages continuing the high academic goals "can be the model of the future," he asserted.

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At the IIT conference he also related how CGI had sought support for AIDS medicine initiative through UNITAID, an organisation formed by France, Switzerland (and 18 other countries) that have earmarked a small portion of their airline tax revenues for HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries.

He challenged IITians to come up with more business models to fight inequities and health problems worldwide. He also hailed the microcredit movement started by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh that spread to India and many other countries and fetched Yunus, a Nobel Prize.

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