I am happy to know that the Australia South Asia Research Centre of The Australian National University is hosting the 2005 Narayanan Oration on the theme ‘Science and Shaping our Agricultural Future’ on September 27, 2005.

I visualize Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) in Panchayats, which would empower our rural communities. The VKCs would have computers and connectivity and would be windows to the world of knowledge that would reap the benefits of e‑governance, tele‑education, tele‑medicine, e‑commerce and e‑judiciary initiatives. VKCs ultimately would be used to access village specific information to shape a prosperous future for these communities. An organisation of farmers by the farmers for agricultural farming and marketing is the need of the hour.

On this occasion, I extend my greetings and felicitations to all those associated with the Australia South Asia Research Centre and wish the Oration all success.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
New Delhi 2005