Temples won't create jobs in future, only science will, says Sam Pitroda

Debating religion will not create jobs for tomorrow, only science will build the future, technocrat Sam Pitroda told students at a university at Gandhinagar on Sunday.

He also said when employment is talked about, it's given a political angle and involves "a lot of rhetoric and very little substance".

"When I hear all the debates in this country about temple, religion, God, caste, I worry about India. Temples are not going to create jobs for tomorrow. Only science will create the future," Pitroda said.

However, there is very little conversation on science in public domain, he said.

"Even when one talks about employment, there is always a political angle. There is a lot of rhetoric and very little substance," he said.

Pitroda was speaking at the 'Youth Parliament' at the Karnavati University.

The country's youth are being misguided by people, mainly politicians, talking about useless things that lead them to the wrong path, he alleged.

Delivering a speech on 'Employment and Entrepreneurship,' Pitroda said India lacked the "right mindset" to look at jobs of tomorrow as the "concept of jobs that we understand today is long dead".

"We have too much conversation in this country on useless issues, and it bothers me. We talk about petty things, we misguide our young, we lead them to the wrong path, we don't tell them facts, we lie to them," he said.

"It hurts, but I see a lot of these leaders saying things that don't make sense at all. Because they are ignorant, they have not achieved much in their life besides giving bhashans (speeches). They are not qualified to guide our young," he said.

The tech entrepreneur who worked closely with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi said jobs today were threatened by technology.

Human longevity and modern technologies like robotics, big data, analytics, cloud computing and open source software are automating things and making routine works redundant, he said.

Creating more jobs remains a challenge, Pitroda said, suggesting to look at the idea of job creation with the mindset of the future and not the past.

Pitroda also suggested laying more focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for job creation.

"We do not have the right mindset to look up the jobs of tomorrow. Jobs of tomorrow will come in the form of entrepreneurship in smaller areas. SMEs will create more jobs, which will come with focus on better energy, infrastructure...

"Like telecommunication, in 10 years, energy will be free. Transportation will be almost free in 20 years. It is with this mindset that we should look at a job, and not the mindset of yesterday," he said.

Pitroda advised students to think in a way different than their parents, teachers and politicians, saying that they have not been able to gauge the changes of the future and the contours of the changing job scenario.

"Think about the future in a very different way than (what) your parents and your teachers have been telling you," he said.

More entrepreneurship, innovations, flexible job hours, working from anywhere and anytime will be the future, he said.

"The future is to be designed by you. Jobs will demand that you are multi-disciplinary," he told the students.