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A friend of mine, who hikes frequently in the Himalayas, showed me a solar torch the other day which gives light for seven hours before you need to recharge it in the sun. It has a hook for hanging and can light up a small room. My friend uses it for camping. But
what a boon, I thought, for our 250,000 villages without electricity and the millions of school children who can't do homework at night, and village women who fear walking after dark. I googled the maker of the torch and discovered an inspiring story about how to be both a good and an effective human being.

Mark Bent, an American, worked for 20 years in Africa, and saw the waste behind government aid programs. He came home and invented what he calls the BoGo solar torch. BoGo means 'Buy One, Give One'. When you buy one flashlight for Rs 1,000, Mark gives one at half price to NGOs in Africa, who give it to villagers at a nominal price. Mark makes the torches in China to keep costs low.

The story is remarkable not because Mark is a 'do-gooder' but because he has found an innovative and sustainable way to profit from the rich and benefit the poor. Rich campers bring light to African villagers. I hope some NGO in India will google Mark and begin distributing these torches here.

Now, why couldn't one of our boys or girls invent and market this lamp? The answer, of course, is our education system, which stifles all creativity through rote learning. It was modelled on the British system, but the British have moved on and reformed theirs, partly under American inspiration. But our kids are still stuck in a world of cramming and coaching classes. The disease lies in the lack of autonomy.

The Ministry of HRD and its children, University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have a stranglehold. A college cannot decide what courses to teach, what fees to charge and what salaries to pay its professors. How could creativity emerge from this servitude? Creating new universities, as the PM proposes, is not the answer unless you give them autonomy.

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Gurcharan Das is an author, consultant and public intellectual. He is a columnist for The Times of India, and other newspapers & magazines; also the author of the international bestseller, 'India Unbound', published in many countries and languages, and filmed by BBC. He graduated with honors from Harvard University in Philosophy & Politics. He was Chairman & MD of Richardson Hindustan Ltd. from 1981-1985. Then, CEO of P&G India & Vice President of P&G Far East, between 1985-1992, and later VP & MD of P&G Worldwide (Strategic Planning). In 1995, he took early retirement to become a full-time writer. He currently consults with a number of companies on global corporate strategy, and is associated with a private equity fund.