OpinionLead

ForarenaissanceinIndianS&T
PushpaM.Bhargava
TheapathyofsuccessiveCentralgovernmentstowardsscienceandtechnologycontinuesinnumerousways.Thepremiernational
scientificagencieshavebeenmadetolanguish,andnoefforthasbeenmadeeithertoformulateanationalS&Tpolicy

Noonewoulddoubtthatscienceandtechnology(S&T)areanintrinsicpartofthesociopoliticoeconomicfabricofour
society,yetthecoldfactisthattheBharatiyaJanataPartyledNationalDemocraticAlliancegovernmenthaspaidscant
attentiontoscienceinparticular,whichhasbeenthebasisofalltechnologiesthathavetransformedlivesthrough
history.ThisisnottosaythattheUnitedProgressiveAlliancegovernmentdidbetter.Letmelookatthenew
governmentsapathytowardsS&T,exemplifiedintheseways:
Nodirection
Threeoftheleadingscientificagenciesinthecountryhavebeenwithoutaheadforvariousperiods.TheCouncilof
ScientificandIndustrialResearch(CSIR)hasbeenwithoutaregulardirectorgeneralsinceJanuary2014he/she
wouldalsoholdthepositionofSecretary,DepartmentofScientific&IndustrialResearch.TheIndianCouncilof
MedicalResearch(ICMR)hasbeenwithoutadirectorgeneralsinceMarch1,2015he/shewouldalsobetheSecretary,
DepartmentofHealthResearch.And,theDefenceResearchandDevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO)hasbeenwithout
adirectorgeneralhe/shewouldalsobethescientificadvisertotheDefenceMinistersinceJanuary14,2015,when
thepersoninchargewasremoved.Betweenthem,theseorganisationsoversee120outofsome280nationalS&T
institutions.Tillrecently,anotherleadingscientificagency,theDepartmentofScienceandTechnology(DST),wasalso
withoutaheadforquitesometime.ThepostofSecretary,DST,wasfilledonlyrecently.
Inaddition,severalpremierresearchanddevelopment(R&D)laboratoriesfunctionwithoutaregulardirector,
examplesbeingtheTataInstituteofFundamentalResearchinMumbai,andtheIndianAgriculturalResearchInstitute
inNewDelhi.
Thereismore.ThelastUnionBudgetspeechhadvirtuallynoreferencetoscience.Personally,Iamawareofthe
erosionofexcellencebuiltpainstakinglyovertheyearsinlaboratoriessuchastheCentreforCellular&Molecular
Biology(CCMB)inHyderabad.ItslibrarycannolongersubscribetoevenCurrentContentsleavealoneotherscientific
journalsasthereisnomoney.IknowthattheICMRcannotevenpayappropriatetravelallowancetothoseattending
itsmeetings.Ihavenotseensuchsituationsariseinmyscientificcareerspanningoversixdecades.Theresource
crunchthatS&Tlabsfacetodayissomethingunknownandispainful.
Foraviablepolicy
NoefforthasbeenmadetoformulateanationalS&Tpolicy,especiallywhenthecountryneedsaframeworkanda
statementonsuchapolicy.Italsoneedsadocumentthatwouldclearlyandunambiguouslystateaworkablewayto
implementthispolicy.
Oncethisisdone,onemustthenidentifyourunqualifiedsuccessesinthefieldsofscienceandtechnologysince
Independenceandgivetheirreasonssothatoneknowswhatonehastobuildupon,andalsoidentifyourfailuresand
theirreasons.Wecanthenknowwhatneedstobetakencareofinfuture.
Atthispoint,IwouldliketogivetheexampleofIsraelandhighlightthequalityandworldwideimpactofbasic
scientificresearchdonethere.Asanindependentnation,IsraelhasexistedforaboutthesameperiodasIndiahas.
UnlikeIndia,ithashadtostartfromscratch.ItdidnotinheritnaturalresourceslikeIndiadid.Thereisjustone
reservoiroffreshwater,theSeaofGalilee.Itsentirepopulationismuchsmallerthanthepopulationofeventhe
smallestofourfourlargestmetropolitancities.Yet,itsoutputofallbasicresearchoutpacesthatdoneinmostofour
280nationalresearchinstitutions.Oneonlyneedstoanalysethecitationsofthescientificworkdoneinthetwo
countriesandfollowtheworldwidetechnologicalimpactofIsraelsworktounderstandwhatIamtryingtohighlight.
Theremustbearecognitionofthedifferencesbetweenscienceandtechnology.Forthis,onecanrefertoScienceand
TechnologyPolicyinthe1980sandBeyond,1984.
Theuseofvalidated,indigenous,traditionalknowledgehardlyneedsemphasis.Forexample,traditionalknowledgein
theareaofwaterconservationhasbeenwelldocumentedbytheCentreforScienceandEnvironment(CSE)inDelhi.
Whereused,asinRajasthan,theexcellentresultsarethereforalltosee.Yet,incontrast,isthewayinwhichour
numerous,tribal,plantbased,traditionalmedicalformulations,forwhichsubstantialsocialvalidationexists,havenot
evenbeendocumented.AnexampleofsocialvalidationinthisareaistheregulationofconceptionintheNicobar
Islands.
Newlinks
Thedocumentsmustalsorecogniseandidentifynewlinkagesthatsciencehascometoestablishwithareassuchas

economics,sociology,politicsandlawdealwiththenewethicalquestionsthathavearisenasaconsequenceof
advancesinscienceandtechnology,andworkoutstrategieswhichensurethattheyaredealtwithappropriatelyinthe
Indiancontext.
Wemustalsoensurethatthecultivationofascientifictemperdoesnotexistmerelyonpaperbutfindslifeand
expressioninpractice.Allactionsthatthegovernmenttakesorsupportedbythepeoplemustbeinlinewithscientific
temper.
WemusttakeastandonthoseclausesoftheGeneralAgreementonTariffsandTrade(GATT)andtheAgreementon
TradeRelatedAspectsofIntellectualPropertyRights(TRIPS)whichhaveascientificcomponentandwhicharenotin
Indiasinterests.Thiswouldinvolveutilisingexistingprovisionsintheseagreementstoouradvantageandpassing
appropriatepiecesofnationallegislationandseekingchangestospecificprovisionsattheinternationallevel.Thiswas
dealtwithinanarticleinthisdaily(February20,2002)titledPatentingIndiasinterests.
Theremustbeadefinitivebutliberalpolicyonprovidingventurecapitalforstartupsinnewareasoftechnology.This
mustbethroughgovernmentfundedagenciessuchastheIndustrialCreditandInvestmentCorporationofIndiaand
theIndustrialDevelopmentBankofIndia.
Themechanismgoverningthereleaseofgeneticallyengineeredorganismsisunsatisfactoryandineffective.Similarly,
infertilityclinicshavemushroomedinthelastdecadeandmayberesponsibleforaninfructuousexpenditureofseveral
thousandcroresofrupeeseveryyear,besidescreatingethicalproblems.Iadvocateappropriateandworkable
regulatorymechanismsinthesetwoareas.
Theremustbeanemphasisonnationalsecuritywhichwouldincludesustainabledevelopmentandafactoringinof
interestsinconservation,food,ecology,socialsecurity(includinghealth),anddefence.
Aforecastingsystemwhichwouldenableonetoprojectsocioeconomicpoliticalscenariosagainstthebackgroundof
developmentsinscienceandtechnologyonacontinuingbasisisamust.
Basicresearch
WorkingoutapolicyforbasicresearchwhereallworthwhileideasthatwouldallowIndiatobecomealeaderinbasic
researchshouldbepursuedwithvigour.Secondorthirdrateresearchthatisrepetitiveoratrivialfollowupofleads
providedelsewhereintheworldmustbediscouraged.Thiswillensurethatthequalitytoquantityratiointhecountry
inrespectofbasicresearchgoesupbyatleasttwoordersofmagnitudeinthenexttwodecades.
Areasthatrelatetotechnologywherethecountrywouldlayspecialemphasisinthenexttwodecadesmustbe
identified.Thesecouldbeinspacetechnology,energy(especiallyrenewablesourcesofenergy,andincreasing
efficiencyintheuseandconservationofenergy),newmaterials,biotechnology(includingmarinebiotechnology),
informationtechnology,microelectronics,computers,nanotechnologies,artificialintelligence,automationand
robotics,meteorology,anddisasterpreventionandmanagement.
Anincidentinthepastcomestomind.In1982,thefirstrobotinthecountrywasproducedbyaprivatesciencesociety,
theHyderabadScienceSociety,whichwasfoundedin1948itreceivedravereviewsandwasmetwithapplausewhen
firstdemonstratedtothepublic.However,thesociety,whichhasanexcellentrecordofpublicservice,hasfaced
problems,someofwhichaffectitssurvival.Suchasituationwouldneverhavebeenallowedtohappenorevenarisenin
Thailand,Singapore,MalaysiaandSouthKorea,leavealoneJapan,theUnitedKingdomortheUnitedStates.
Finally,ournationalscienceacademiesmustbemadesociallyaccountable.Ihopeallthesepointswillhelpusherin
AchcheDinforIndianscienceandtechnologyandmakeeminentsensetoourpoliticalmasters.
(PushpaM.BhargavaisformerViceChairman,NationalKnowledgeCommissionandChairman,CouncilforSocial
Development,southernregionalcentre.)
Keywords:scienceandtechnology,NDAgovernment,CSIR,scientificresearch,MinistryofScience,nationalscience
policy,patents,IPR,nationalresearchinstitutions.
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