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money being the capital. Money is only the token of surplus assets built up in the past by the use of Human resource and time. Other natural resources do add to the capital but are subsidiary to these primary forms of capital - as so well illustrated by Japan. Therefore, the question of labour intensive or capital intensive should be decided on the basis of which produces faster growth of assets with available resources (which will include human resources and all other forms of capital). It is not the immediate growth but the rate of growth that is important. Exponential growth may start slowly but easily overtakes the linear growth pattern. Luxury v/s Necessities What is a luxury? What is a necessity? Is bus service a luxury? Is electricity a luxury? Something that is a luxury today, if it becomes widely available to the population and has a great impact on their life, can become a necessity tomorrow. The motorcar did that in USA in the first three decades of this century. The electronics industry has done that in the developed nations now and seems likely to do the same in some developing nations also. In deciding priorities, we should not consider whether a product is considered a luxury or a necessity now, but whether it has the potential of being widely accessible and whether it could make a quantum jump in the life of the population. If it has this potential, then sooner or later, S and I can bring the change. Problems are opportunities A creative mind sees an opportunity in every problem. This is what is meant by “Necessity is the Mother of Invention". A lesser mind runs away. However, we cannot tackle every problem. If we make a balance between the significance of the problem and the probability of solving it in a reasonable period with the given resources, we could have a good project for S and T. « Rural Development Through Education System 206
