Following a global trend, IITs, IIITs, IIMs, and a few of the Central and private universities with a liberal arts approach in the country have started to focus on producing overall professionalism along with excellence in technical know-how and management wisdom.
Moreover, the growing understanding among the think tanks in the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Education is to give a new thrust to Social Sciences and Humanities and social engagement, despite the critical points raised about the shortage of funds in the latter areas.
National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also demands technical education to "deeply engage with other disciplines".
Some such models have been developed this time after closely examining the global success stories like Finland and the European Union.
Finland, the most technologically healthy country in the world, rightly boasts of merging social sciences and digital technology courses after realising the potential of social science studies to provide students with diverse skills and knowledge about human behaviour in digital environments with smart technologies.
The European Union officially announced the view that the social sciences and humanities are essential to extracting value from research, as stated by Professor Luc Soete, Rector Magnificus of Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Such measures are essential in Indian higher education institutions, mainly because technical education has been given paramount importance due to the historical context in defining national development and its pace.
In the process, social dimensions have been largely ignored and, at best, under-examined.
While it was critical to integrate the wisdom and learning of the social sciences and humanities along with the development of industrial, hardware and software systems, what has been happening is the frequent neglect of the human elements and the consequences for the latter.
Of course, almost naturally, more investment is poured into "state-of-the-art" technology innovations.
Such a path and policy led to the disciplinary chauvinism that has been present in Indian academics, mainly ignoring the contribution social sciences and humanities other than economics can make.
Since this article plans to look at the contributions Social Sciences and Humanities can make to technical education, we will concentrate on the need to pay equal or more attention to the human aspects and the social phenomena behind technology. After all, the factors behind the demand for technical achievement and the use of technology are social and human. Therefore, we must research the perception, attitudes and decision-making processes behind technical choices to understand them better.
What we forget ultimately is the fact that development is significantly shaped by individual, community, and organisational choices alongside technical performance.
The scientific community and research often promote technological solutions to human problems while overlooking the social processes regulating reception and technology usage. In the process, they miss out on opportunities for achieving sustainable policy goals if solutions are problem-centred and not technology-centred.
Non-economic social sciences can help us move away from quantitative and homogeneous perspectives that limit our views by mapping a general tendency to propose technical solutions to social problems.
One reason for our path could be the blind imitation of the developmental and educational trends in Europe and the North American continent. That has not been in our best interest. It has often ignored the particularities of our context.
The disconnect between community needs and the mindless adoption of new technologies for economic gains has resulted from such an approach.
We can address the existing skewness only through the qualitative understanding of the social aspects offered by non-economic social sciences. Naturally, we must reinvestigate the relationship between social sciences and technology.
This change will become possible if we admit that the rational choice models produced by technical studies sometimes do not work in real-life scenarios because of unpredictable human choices and behaviour.
We live in a world significantly altered from when we started delving into national development.
It is time to consider the non-economic factors influencing the adoption of technological devices and gadgets. Social factors such as prejudices and traditional hierarchies are essential factors to consider.
Technological changes such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, IoT, mobile computing and innovations in medical and biomedical sciences will disrupt social and economic scenarios.
Social changes will undoubtedly occur.
We can minimise the ensuing pain and suffering if we can offer adequate policy changes by examining the repercussions in advance.
Social scientists must work with industry and governments to document societal benefits and to help with methods and strategies for managing hostile social impact.
In this context, the attempts by Universities like JNU to allow students to acquire an engineering dual degree in Technology, Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities may be a step in the right direction.
Such new programs recognise the fact that the future needs of the industry and the government will be multi-disciplinary experts who can anticipate the societal impacts of technological advancement.
Applications of Artificial Intelligence, social media platforms, and Big Data on human behaviour are already bringing challenges to people's everyday lives.
How well a society adapts to new-generation digital technologies will impact people's behaviour. In a country like India, where economic, social, linguistic and cultural diversity exists, everyone may not feel such impacts equally. Social scientists help us imagine alternative futures.
The humanities and social sciences education in every technology institute may help with an awareness of the need to engage with the community and the larger society for technologists and business strategists.
Social Science and Humanities can open up debates about technology and its ethical and responsible use for the community's benefit. It will help people understand the possibilities and limitations of new technologies.
The growth of technology transforms the economy, the world of work, family lives and leisure.
We can quote numerous examples, and let us take the simple case of televisions and mobile phones that changed how we interact with our neighbours and even family members.
These technological choices and inventions present various ethical, legal and social issues. Using everyday gadgets like mobile phones can peep into others' lives without the constant reminder of the boundaries and social etiquette presented to us through social research.
The proposal here is that social science and humanities can help us responsibly use technology and its products that will help us make informed choices that shape the future of humanity and society.
Lastly, we should see education as a social investment, and the beneficiaries must develop a social conscience. We cannot ignore the role of empathy and social responsibility in imparting to our students the spirit of global citizenship.
Our technical education system should give Social science and humanities a new thrust to develop well-rounded professionals. What Plato wrote in The Republic is still relevant in our times - an educated person's mark is his ability to use his knowledge and skills to solve society's problems.
(Dr Sreelekha Nair is a Social Science Consultant at the Social Engagement Centre, Digital University Kerala.
Pradeep K Kalampukatt is an Assistant Professor in the School of Digital Humanities & Liberal Arts, Digital University Kerala)