Science and the Prime Minister-Words vs Action

No doubt our Prime minister is a great communicator and it is his ability to connect with the citizens through inspiring words, carried him through in last last general election to become what he is to day. Though many honest citizens believe that his actions so far between May 2014 and February 2015, a relatively short period he is in power, are marked by many decisions or indecision which are opposite to what he promised the nation. There is still lot of good will for him among the common man and people may yet give him some more time before making a value judgment on his performance. As a scientist this Blogger gets an uneasy feeling that he does not mean what he is preaching some times and his recent utterances on .science and scientists at the Indian Science Congress might be well meaning but his inaction in taking action to appoint to the post of Chief of CSIR belies that hope. It seems he has forgotten that CSIR, with 37 laboratories, 39 field stations and 17000 scientists belonging to different scientific disciplines is one of the biggest scientific assets of the country requiring nurturing through encouragement, resource investment and full policy support.

It is more than a year since the last Director General of CSIR ( DG) retired and till yesterday government did not consider it a priority to fill up that post! Is this not a serious lapse as CSIR is the largest scientific body under the government and keeping it headless is like treating it like a bureaucratic set up affecting the morale of the scientific community as a whole! It was only recently that the government sacked the Chief Scientist in Defense research unceremoniously which reinforces the impression that science has been put on the back burners, at least for now.Only to day there was an announcement that a new DG has been given the task of leading CSIR. Dr M.O.Garg the new appointee will have an arduous job on hand and how he can exert influence on this PM to get the needed resources and inspiration from him to run CSIR is a million dollar question. Have a look at PM's speech at the Science Congress on January 3 this year at Mumbai which is quoted below:.

"Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Saturday morning inaugurated the 102nd edition of the Indian Science Congress hosted by the Mumbai University. Modi called for the need to rekindle the love for science and technology and the relaxing excessive regulations and cumbersome procedures for our universities to give a boost to research. Our scientists should be able to explore the mysteries of science and not get stuck in government procedures" said Modi. He added that our research is restricted to central agencies but it must be made broad based. "We have to place the university system at the cutting edge of the research and development activities in the country," he added. Speaking about the great work of Indian scientists, Modi said, "Just as children see sportsmen as role models, scientists should also be the same. Parents should feel pride in their children becoming scientists." He also lauded the work by ISRO for putting Mangalayan in the mars" 

PM's words about University system may be very apt but his minister for HRD does not inspire much confidence among the scientific community with her limited qualification, lack of experience and inadequate vision. University Grants Commission which controls the financial strings vis-a-vis Universities require urgent overhaul if the higher education system is to contribute any thing in the scientific research area. In sharp contrast to Universities in other countries like the US or Europe our Universities are a pale shadow of their counterparts. Most of them lack world class infrastructure for training and research in different areas of science and technology. The example of ISRO, which is role model for scientific achievements, must be emulated, simulated and duplicated in various scientific fields and this agency proves that our scientists are capable of delivering results if targets are well contoured and adequate resources are kept at their disposal. 

Another worrying factor is whether there is a possibility that indigenous research will be discouraged in the face of this PM's over drive to project India as a welcome destination for foreign players to pitch their tent in the country? Naturally they are bound to try to sell all types of technologies in the country, sidelining the efforts of Indian scientists which can be disastrous by doing a lot of harm to the scientific temper among youngsters of future generation. What the present government is missing in its pursuit of foreign technologies is that even to understand and evaluate the feasibility of foreign technologies under Indian conditions, technical expertise of a high order is required and if domestic research is neglected this capacity is bound to be degraded gradually making India a dumping ground for junk technologies of irrelevance to the needs of the country. One can only hope better sense will prevail on the part of the present government and science is given its due place as a priority area of action.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES!-A NATIONAL CALAMITY

It is well known that India is one of the few countries in the world that does not respect the skills, knowledge base and capabilities of its scientists. Probably the administrative specialists system, inherited from the erstwhile British masters, still an omnipotent force in every area of concern to the common man, is responsible for sidelining the technical cadres even in area of scientific endeavors, requiring specialized knowledge and experience. It might be true that the members of the administrative cadre have superior skills when it comes to running various activities requiring organizational and management skill but how they can fit into an environment that needs scientific knowledge and experience. Imagine what would have happened if Space Research Organization or Atomic Energy Commission or Council of Scientific Research, Agricultural Research Council or Dept of Biotechnology is headed by an administrator with no basic or practical qualification. Probably the country would not have possessed the nuclear bombs or missiles and rockets that launch satellites or the industrial development or the green revolution achieved by the nation.

Look at the recent fiasco involving the UN Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC), chaired by no less a person than one of the Nobel Laurates from India who also heads the Tata Institute of Energy Research in the country. The Panel with great fanfare claimed that most of the Himalayan glaciers would vanish by the year 2035 to dramatize the impact of green house gas emissions on the planet in not too distant a future. Apparently the IPCC deliberately or mistakenly changed the date from 2350, as originally reported by a Russian hydrographer earlier. That limited real time data exist on glacier melting in Himalayas based on studies with 20 glaciers out of 9500 glaciers that exist in Himalayas is a known fact. Such a claim led to demands from countries like the US on India to eliminate millions of wood fired stoves used by the rural population to prevent the sooth drifting to Himalayas and melting the glaciers! Why such a thing happens too frequently? The most plausible reason is that India has a history of deputing its bureaucrats with limited knowledge to international bodies to represent the country in such highly technical bodies and meetings. Deputing an under secretary of GOI for a meeting of Codex Commission dealing with food safety, is nothing but a farce perpetrated on the country which happens too frequently in this country. What about the much touted Food Standards and Safety Agency of GOI? It is unfortunate that GOI could not find a decent qualified technical person to head this important body and in stead pick up a retired administrator for the task.

Read the recent report recently carried by many news papers concerning the constitution of an "expert panel" by the National Planning Commission (NPC), vested with responsibility of evolving a strategy for transforming the country to a low carbon economy. Guess who are the "expert" members of this group. The convener is an administrator from Haryana cadre who is supposed to set the agenda, coordinate the meetings and consolidate the final strategy report. The qualification of the members of this 29-member committee does not inspire any confidence that any thing constructive will come out of this "circus" orchestrated spending enormous amount from the exchequer. The commitment by the GOI to reduce carbon emission by 25-40 % within a decade at the Copenhagen climate summit, though not mandatory, needs to be honored to protect the country's credibility as an ethical nation.

Scientific community in the country has also not covered itself with glory through its attitudes, behavior and past track record. There is supposed to be a Scientific Advisory Council of GOI mandated to advice the government on all matters concerning science in the country. No one is aware of its past track record in terms of accomplishments during the last few years, except being an ornamental body décorating PMO set up at Delhi. It looks like scientist administrators, moving over to Delhi, leaving their original moorings and environment, are worse than the administrators in promoting science in the country, most of them indulging in self glorification and enjoying power and perks that come with the position they manage to get through efforts other than technical or scientific.

Prime Minister of the country was lamenting during his address at the recent science Congress meeting at Thiruvananthapuram that the present system of recognition and remuneration to the scientists are not sufficient to motivate them for innovation but scientists themselves know that they cannot hope for a better deal from the government, especially after the massive pay hike implemented last year. There are still plenty of good working scientists in the country who need to be motivated by dynamic leaders with high quality accomplishments and self less dedication and commitment besides freeing them from the inflexible bureaucratic procedures with which they have been saddled. It is time Indian science become quality conscious and not obsessed with quantity or numbers.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com