Promote science, R&D

It is high time that the Indian community and institutions start channelising their ideas towards purposeful and productive results, instead of confining to platitudes and academic discourse.

India has an appalling record in research and development efforts, which is reflected in the shocking fact that the total spend of R&D is less than 1% of the GDP across the entire spectrum of sectors, from agriculture to industry.

This situation can be attributed to a lack of scientific temperament and an indoctrinated tendency inculcated by the academic institutions to stick to established knowledge, rather than think out of the box.

While the academic institutions promote learning by rote, the science institutions have scientists who go by the book. Another factor for the dearth of R&D is the disinclination by the government and the industries to earmark sufficient allocations for research and development.

A classic case in point is multi-billion pharmaceutical companies which are thriving on generics and off patent drugs. It is not just the pharma sector, but other sectors also present a similar picture. India today has very few products which it can boast of as its own creation.

Scientists in many public sector research institutions are involved in administrative work and not in what they are supposed to do i.e., scientific quest. An Indian scientist working abroad very lucidly pointed out “at our labs, scientists are allowed to do only science.”

But, here the situation is vice-versa. It is not surprising that we see very little of innovations happening in India. On the contrary and ironically, most of the innovations and discoveries in the US and European countries are emanating from Indian scientists.

Does it not indicate that we have the knowledge and the ability to innovate, and that India does not have right and conducive environment for scientific pursuits and quest towards technological development?

Let us hope that the Indian Science Congress which begins today at Tirupati does not turn out to be a routine affair that it has been over the years since its inception, and refrain from the obsession with rhetoric and resolutions that have till date been confined to reams and reams of paper.

They should for a change come out with pragmatic solutions to kick-start the stagnant and immobile research and development initiatives in the country. The focus of science congress should be to come out with practical solutions for propelling ‘Make in India’ programme towards its avowed objective of achieving self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

The Science Congress should conceive strategies for attracting more youth towards scientific pursuits. With start-ups being the order of the day, it is high time the scientific community and the government facilitate access to the knowledge and support systems, apart from providing the means to boost innovations in the country.

The Science Congress this time should be a departure from the past and achieve what it is expected to – not just preach but also practise and put their ideas into action.