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The characteristic of the hour is that the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be commonplace, has the assurance to proclaim the rights of the commonplace and to impose them wherever it will. The mass crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select. Anybody who is not like everybody, who does not think like everybody, runs the risk of being eliminated. This is the non-saffron — though no less sadistic — message of the UPA government today.

President Dr Abdul Kalam proudly announced the setting up of four National Institutes of Science (NIS) in the country in 2003 (16 months ago) for the advancement of science education in India. The UPA government has not cleared this proposal. The top officials of the University Grants Commission have been giving the usual bureaucratic explanation that the proposal is being carefully considered and reviewed by the HRD Ministry. However, I understand that this proposal has been shelved by the UPA government.

The previous Vajpayee government had conceived the opening of NIS each in Chennai, Allahabad, Bhubaneshwar and Pune with Anna University, Allahabad University, Utkal University and Pune University as the link institutions. After detailed consultation with the link universities, the UGC had, in May 2004, prepared a Project Feasibility Report with an initial allocation of Rs.74.5 crore for each NIS. After that all radio contact with the UGC was lost by these link universities. Subsequently, all activities like locating the land and other preliminaries have come to a grinding halt for want of proper directions from the HRD Ministry in the UPA government in New Delhi. The UPA government is well known for its masterly inactivity. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and HRD Minister Arjun Singh seem to be in the competing arena of being decided only to be undecided, resolved only to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity and all powerful only to be impotent. It is a grim tragedy that an autocrat like Arjun Singh has treated the proposal of the President of India with the same impunity with which he has treated the proposals of other routine educationists and bureaucrats forgetting the fact that an ineluctable oblivion awaits his essentially uncreative mind.

The NDA government wanted the NIS to occupy a prime position in the area of Science Education in the same manner as IITs and IIMs do for Technology and Management Education. The objective was to attract the brightest students from all over the country and enroll them for a five-year integrated M.Sc. Course in Basic and Applied Science. This was proposed taking into account the national requirement of top-notch science postgraduates to man and lead the National Lab System and mission-oriented agencies, which are likely to face crisis in the coming years with a large number of senior hands retiring.

It is a well-known fact that all over India bright boys and girls are showing a tendency to shy away from science. Even those students who win International Olympiad Medals are reluctant to opt for a career in science. This trend becomes evident when we see that a comparatively lower percentage of marks is prescribed for admission to science stream in our colleges and universities as compared with other professional streams. It was hoped that the NIS Programme would go a long way in narrowing the unwanted divide between pure and applied sciences.

An assured career in science is essential for a certain number of high quality committed scientists with aptitude towards research. There should be a minimum annual intake of about 300 M.Sc and 100 Ph.D. scientists with proper emoluments and assured career growth in organisations such as ISRO, DRDO, Atomic Energy, CSIR, DST, and universities. Private and government-funded universities must be encouraged to appoint M.Sc and Ph.D. scientists selected through a nationally coordinated competitive selection process. This will be a great motivator for science students and their parents. It will be an assurance to youth and their parents that the future is secure once they take up a career in science. Experienced scientists and policy makers must recognise the talent available in their organisations irrespective of their position. They must empower young scientists to create state-of-the art laboratories once they have concrete thoughts and vision. The NIS proposal sought these objectives and this proposal has been torpedoed with secular savagery by the UPA government.

Today the country has become one of the strongest in the world in terms of scientific manpower in capability and maturity. Our economy has also become strong. We are therefore in a position not only to understand technologies that we may borrow but also to create our own technologies with extensive scientific inputs of indigenous origin. This will create value addition. In many areas such as pharmaceuticals, we are delivering products to the world, backed by a large amount of R&D.

We have come a long way since Independence — from mere buyers of technology to a nation that has made science and technology an important contributor to national development and societal transformation. In a world where power is determined by a nation`s share of the world`s knowledge, reflected by patents, papers, and so on, the WTO starts to play a crucial role in economic development. It is important for India to put her act together and become a continuous innovator and creator of science and technology intensive products. The science that we do today must have innovativeness, foresight, and vision for it to be the centre of technology that we develop tomorrow for the competitive world.

In Dr Abdul Kalam we have a people`s President. We have a common man`s President. For the first time we have a President who is interested in raising the level of science education in India and taking the benefits of advanced science to the millions of India. In this context I would like to quote his words of truth, beauty and wisdom:

Youth must be made to understand the beauty of doing science, the pleasure of doing science, and the ultimate bliss when results of science make you understand nature, master it, control it, and finally make things that improve the quality of life of humankind. Every scientist must pledge that he or she will spend at least some time visiting schools to ignite young minds by recounting his or her experiences.

V.Sundaram, IAS

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