Dr AS Rao Council celebrates its silver jubilee

“Science is the need of the hour,” said Dr RS Praveen Kumar, IPS, and secretary of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential School Society at the Silver Jubilee Celebration of Dr AS Rao Awards Council. It was held at Homi J Baba Community Hall at Dr AS Rao Nagar.

Praveen added, “My father bought ECTV. When I asked him on why he chose ECTV over other brands, he laughed and said, even my grandchildren would be able use this TV. ECTV is the baby of Dr AS Rao. He practiced self-reliance. We have a place name after him, this shows his greatness. He was a man of simplicity. Innovations and research doesn’t exist anymore.

Students and lecturers have stopped going to libraries. They instead use the internet for writing their thesis and presentations. There is a loophole in the policy system. I want academicians to address the problem. In India, 0.9% of GDP is spent on science. Israel, which is half the size of Ananthapur has 20,000 patents, South Korea has 45,000 patents and unfortunately India has only 5,927 patents. The challenge is to change the principal of valuation. We are still living in the 9-5 mode. Lesson plans are prepared, just to show it to the supervisor, but not for reference,” he added. He also voiced his opinion that instead of having so many malls and movies, why not have science museums.

Dr LS Rao, President of Dr AS Rao Council informed the audience about the activities like talent tests, teacher’s workshops and residential school students’ science workshops conducted by the council. He thanked all the academicians from various streams who co-operated with the council and served the students. He recalled how Dr AS Rao objected to start a body in his name and any commercial activity or misusing of his name. “We wanted the coming generations to know about him and his legacy. We convinced him and set up this council. Dr AS Rao monitored the council for four years,” he recollected.

VS Murthy, secretary of Dr AS Rao Council, addressed the audience over the 25 years of the council’s journey.

Chukka Ramaiah, the well-known mathematician, academician and MLC shared that he had the privilege of being the founder secretary of the council. He said, he shares a deep bonding with this council. “When we proposed that we would set up the council in his name, he came up with conditions. It was only when we agreed to the conditions; he agreed to come up this council. He used to check the fees we had collected and the accounts sheet.

He was a man of character. He was a public servant and died as a public scientist,” he recalled. He advised that science should be treated properly but should not be given step-motherly treatment. He advised that research should not be done after MS but should begin during childhood itself. The programme concluded with the vote of thanks by K Rama Raju.