96th Indian Science Congress

Science Education and Attraction ofTalent for Excellence in Research

Keynote Address by

Shri Kapil SibalHon'ble Minister for

Science & Technology andEarth Sciences

Government of India

January 3-7, 2009

atNorth Eastern Hill University,

Shillong, Meghalaya

Dr. Manmohan Singh ji, Hon'ble Prime Minister ofIndia; His Excellency Shri Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary,Governor of Meghalaya; Dr Donkupar Roy, Hon'ble ChiefMinister of Meghalaya; Dr 1. Ramasami, President of the96th Indian Science Congress; Professor M.G.K. Menon,Chancellor, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong;Professor C.N.R. Rao, Chairman, Scientific AdvisoryCommittee to the Prime Minister; Prof. RamamurthiRallapali, Immediate Past President of the Indian ScienceCongress; Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, the President-elect of the9th Indian Science Congress; Professor Pramod Tandon,Vice Chancellor, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong;Professor Avijit Banerji and Professor A. K. Saxena,General Secretaries of the ISCA; Members of the ISCACouncil; distinguished scientists, respected delegates fromabroad, media personnel, invitees, ladies and gentlemen.

1. Sir, I am fortunate to have the signal honour ofaddressing the prestigious Indian Science Congressfor the fifth consecutive occasion and I am happy tosee that with every passing year, the Congress isenriched with several new activities. This year is noexception.

2. This Science Congress is unique. For the first time, itis being held in the North East Region, special to us inmany ways. Far, yet close to our hearts. Rich in

diversity, yet an integral part of our nationhood.Vivacious yet serene. Crying for change yet rooted intradition. Has respect for its past, yet ready to leapfroginto the future. A future full of hope and promise.

3. Relatively untouched by massive industrialization,the North Eastern Region is rich in biodiversity. It hasthe benefit of a societal culture which accords womena status at par with men. The region has thewherewithal that can help enjoy the enormousbenefits available through inputs in science andtechnology. The region can be showcased as the onethat can, through science and technology, carve foritself the path of sustainable development for otherregions of India to emulate.

4. Sir, history bears testimony to the fact that the marchof any civilization has been on the shoulders ofscience and technology. William Russell aptly, oncesaid "Almost everything that distinguishes themodern world from earlier centuries isattributable to science". Technology too has had asignificant role to play in our civilizational march. Itdelivers the fruits of science for societal benefit.

While science continues to delight, excite andchallenge, technology offers leisure, comfort andrelaxation - both have contributed enormously to

enhancing human welfare in a myriad ways. Thisscientific enterprise has provided phenomenalunderstanding of our bodies, our minds, our worldand our universe. Science has opened new vistas ofknowledge, transforming human interaction andsocial structures. Science and technology also offerenormous economic opportunities, which fueleconomic growth.

5. Sir, we are today living in an era of great economic,social and more importantly anthropogenic change.The growth of human population and the consequentconsumption of natural resources is altering planetEarth in unprecedented ways. The world is alsochanging in a myriad other ways. Inequity within andamong all nations has increased; new infectiousdiseases have emerged; technology, communicationand information systems have undergonerevolutionary changes; markets have become global;the biotic and cultural worlds have beenhomogenized; the rate of transport of people, goodsand organisms has increased exponentially;multinational corporations have emerged asdominant economic players; and the role of non-governmental actors has assumed significance.Integration of the human dimensions of these globalchanges with the physical-chemical-biologicaldimensions is a necessity.

6. To meet the complex challenges confronting us, weneed to invest in education to ensure that we canavail of a critical mass of educated human resourceto provide us with the necessary solutions. Educationmust be considered a national priority. The presentsituation does not inspire confidence. Untill recentlyout of every one hundred children who passed highschool, only eight became graduates. Such a highrate of attrition is not conducive for generating acritical mass of students necessary for science toflourish. Our numbers must swell. Our quality mustimprove. Increased access at the University levelcoupled with improved standards should be our goal.

7. Though attempts have been made to achieve theabove objectives, they have thus far not had thedesired results. However, the outlay for educationhas been showing a consistent growth from a meagreRs 150 crores in the First Five Year Plan. In the year2005-06, the outlay for elementary education andliteracy alone was Rs 12,700 crores and another Rs2,700 crores for higher education. The 11th Five YearPlan saw a four fold increase in outlays compared tothe 10th Plan. The Right to Education Bill, makingeducation free and compulsory for all children agedbetween 6 and 14 years, having been passed by theUnion Cabinet in October and introduced in the RajyaSabha last month reflects the much awaited national

commitment. Notwithstanding this initiative, we haveno reason to be complacent. The pace of progress inliteracy rates has been slow. Between 1961 and 1991,the literacy rate has gone up by a mere 23.9percentage points, from 28.3 in 1961 to 52.2 in 1991.From 1991 to 2001 there has been a 13.36%increase. The literacy scenario is furthercharacterized by wide inequalities among differentsections of the population. Female literacy isabysmally low with half the country's women stillilliterate. No less disturbing is the persistent rural-urban divide. The scheduled castes and scheduledtribes form two other specially disadvantagedpopulation groups. Regional disparities are alsocause for worry. At the top of the hierarchy, lies thestate of Kerala that has an exceptionally high literacyrate of 90.92 0/0. In Bihar, Kishanganj district has thelowest literacy rate (31% for males and 18.49% forfemales).

8. Sir, at the tertiary level, things are better. India is aglobal source for world class professionals in variedfields of science, be it medical professionals, energyexperts, chemical· engineers, telecommunicationprofessionals, software specialists, infrastructuredevelopers and the like. In the year 2006-07, we had3960 R & D institutions, 358 Universities/DeemedUniversities, 13 institutes of national importance,

20,677 colleges enrolling more than 11 millionstudents in higher education, out of which about onethird are in science faculties. In the year 2005-06, thecountry produced about 7,500 Ph.Ds in science andtechnology. The number of patents filed increasedfrom 8,503 in 2000-01 to 28,940 in 2006-07. The totalnumber of scientific papers increased from 20,514 in1996 to 40,062 in 2006. The numbers howeverconceal certain disturbing facts. India's contribution toworld publications has increased only marginally from2.1% in 1995-2000 to 2.3% in 2000-05. While mostcountries spend more than 2% of their GDP onresearch and development, India spent only 0.88%.

9. Sir, creation of avenues for absorbing high qualityscientific professionals is as important as generatingthem. This is particularly significant, as the developedcountries and multi-national corporations look uponIndia as a rich source of high quality scientists. TheMinistry has therefore be'en taking up a host ofinitiatives to attract and retain the best minds inscience. At least some of them deserve specialmention here. We have set up DNA clubs in 23 statesinvolving 3 lakh students, which seek to expose themto new opportunities in biotechnology. Innovativeyoung Biotechnology awards have been instituted toidentify and nurture young researchers withinnovative ideas. Ajoint venture between DBT and the

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Wellcome Trust, UK has been established to buildand nurture talent of the highest internationalstandards, in cutting edge biomedical research inIndia.

10. Sir, you are aware that a great multitude of Scientistsand Technologists of Indian Origin (STIO's),dispersed throughout the world are willing and eagerto contribute to Indian science. We are devisingspecial programmes for this. The RamalingaswamyRe-entry Fellowship encourages STIOs, who areinterested, to return to India and work in areas relatedto life sciences and biotechnology. Last week, theUnion Government created 30 posts of DistinguishedScientists in the Council of Scientific & IndustrialResearch to specially attract STIOs in multifariousscientific disciplines. Gender sensitivity is animportant factor in nurturing a scientific humanresource base. An innovative Women ScientistsScheme that facilitates re-entry of women in the agegroup of 30-50 to mainstream science andengineering has recently been launched.

1'1. Sir, it is a known fact that creativity and innovation getstifled in a straight jacket bureaucratic structure. Myconstant attempt has been to create a favourableinnovation ecosystem where scientific managementis practiced in a de-bureaucratic ambience. The one

legislation passed by both houses of Parliament in itsDecember session, signaling the formation of anautonomous body namely, the Science & EngineeringResearch Board (SERB) will go a long way inachieving this end. Decks have been cleared foranother path breaking legislation already introducedin the Rajya Sabha, namely the "Protection andUtilization of Public Intellectual Property" aimed atremoving bottlenecks and giving incentives in theconversion of output of Universities, academic andresearch institutions to potentially useful products forpublic good. The Ministry is committed to do whateverit can for promoting innovation. It is my belief thatgovernment acts as a facilitator in institutionalizingknowledge acquisition, but the locus of learning restsin enterprises, both public and private. Historically,industry has been a critical source, user and diffuserof technological progress, associated skills andattitudes. Industry is therefore not just an input, butalso a critical node in the development process. Thatis why, the Ministry is emphasizing on businesspartnership through Technology parks and relatedinstitutions. The Biotechnology Industry PartnershipProgramme (BIPP) and the Small BusinessInnovative Research Initiatives (SBIRI) - both havebeen designed and launched with this end in viewthrough the sunrise sector of Biotechnology which isregistering an annual growth of about 35%.

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12. Sir, technological developments have given birth toand nurtured industrialized societies. With its morecomplicated division of labour, industrialization catersto a number of occupations requiring extensive formaleducation and training. Educated and technicallytrained manpower in an ever evolving knowledgeeconomy requires constant up-gradation ofknowledge and skills. To the extent that schools,universities and training institutes react to oranticipate needs, the curriculum, teaching facilitiesand retraining teachers need to be continuallymonitored and readjusted. Given the limited ability toanticipate the complex processes of economic andsocial development and the need to transform thefunctioning of our educational system, I am sure, theScience Congress will deliberate as to how the twoissues can be addressed.

13. Sir, the teaching of science also needs to be refinedsubstantially. The function of instruction should be tohelp the pupil develop new modes of inquiry ratherthan the acquisition and storage of information. Given

. the rate at which knowledge increases, it is extremelydifficult for the teacher to attempt to continuallyupdate the content of information. The sheerexplosion of knowledge creates an impossible burdenon the student. We must help students develop skillsof procuring information and its analyticalexamination.

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14. Sir, allow me to digress for a while, to dwell upon somecontroversies in science and research. There is agrowing demand that research should be utilitarianand result oriented. Resources should be spent onprojects, which can offer quick and lasting solutions.Research grants should not be frittered away inesoteric pursuits. While I happen to be a very strongadvocate for using S & T for societal benefit, I do notsubscribe to the extremist view of discouragingresearch in basic science. Researchers in basicsciences need to be respected and valued just astheir counterparts in industrial research. Societyneeds them. Let me recall the words of Madame Curie"Humanity needs practical men, who get the mostout of their work, and, without forgetting thegeneral good, safeguard their own interests. Buthumanity also needs dreamers, for whom thedisinterested development of an enterprise is socaptivating that it becomes impossible for themto devote their care to their own material profit.Without doubt, these dreamers do not deservewealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, awell-organized society should assure to suchworkers the efficient means of accomplishingtheir task, in a life freed from material care andfreely consecrated to research". A secondcontroversy is that technological upheavals need tobe deliberately slowed down. Technological

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hegemony now tends to enslave humanity.Technology feeds on itself and more technologygenerates even more powerful and lethal solutions.Man has mastered more technology than what hiswisdom and morality allows him to handle. Use oftechnology in wars can have devastatingconsequences. Terrorists use sophisticatedtechnology to their advantage and in the processspread terror. My response is simple andstraightforward. Technology is a tool. It is aninstrument, which is value neutral and can be used forgood and bad. The answer to the problem lies not inembracing a technology denial regime, but act in thebelief that technology alone can provide answers tothose who seek to misuse it.

15. Sir, I believe that indiscriminate use of technologycontinues to harm our environment. Issues ofenvironmental pollution, climate change haveassumed alarming proportions. But the truth is thattechnology alone can arrest and reverse theunacceptable trends in global warming. We require toinvest hugely in research and finding solutions toenvironmental problems. As Francis Bacon said"Nature cannot be commanded except by beingobeyed. Let us learn the laws of nature, and weshall be her masters, as we are now, in ignorance,her thralls; science is the road to utopia". Many a

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times such solutions elude nations which do not haveadequate human or financial resources. Establishingand implementing interdisciplinary megainternational programmes of science research hasbecome imperative. Sir, shared researchinfrastructure has become the order of the day.Presently, the initiative to conceptualize such megascience programmes are generally proposed byscientists of the developed world and implemented asinternational programmes. Sometimes scientistsfrom the developing world are also involved, but moreoften than not they have no substantive role to speakof. Scientific and technological development in mostof the developing world is still far behind that ofdeveloped countries. But Sir, we have madeconsiderable progress in niche areas of science andtechnology. We have demonstrated our parity with thebest in the world. With a growing national capability inscience and technology, our scientists now have theability to lead high-level international scientificprogrammes. I feel we should organize a few front-line mega international science programmes anddraw participation of scientists from around the world.Let me just cite one case from India to buttress this.

16. The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of theTata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) hasbuilt and operates the Giant Metrewave Radio

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Telescope (GMRT). It is the most powerful radiotelescope in the world operating at low radiofrequencies. The GMRT consists of 30 fully steerablegigantic parabolic dishes of 45 metres diameterspread over a distance of 25 km. Fifteen years agoGMRT was one of the most challenging experimentalprogrammes in basic sciences undertaken by Indianscientists and engineers. Today, astronomers fromall over the world regularly use this telescope toobserve different astronomical objects such asgalaxies, pulsars and supernovae. Since then wehave mounted a few other mega projects such asAccelerator based research, Plasma Physics, butmost of these deal with particle physics. Thedemands of today and tomorrow call for such megaprojects in understanding climate change,environment, life systems and energy forms andsources; also to develop newer agriculturetechniques. With large mega projects, I see astrategic convergence of the needs and directions ofthe North and the South. I therefore urge the ScienceCongress to discuss and debate on the mega projectsthat we might wish to launch in collaborative mode.

17. Sir, we all recognise that the future is quite likely toinvolve increasing rates of change; greateruncertainty about responses of complex biological,ecological, social, and political systems; and moresurprises. The world at the dawn of the 2151 century is

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fundamentally different from the one in whichscientific enterprise has developed hitherto.Challenges for society are formidable and will requiresubstantial information, knowledge, wisdom, andabove all collaboration between the scientificcommunity, policy makers and the public. Suchunprecedented environmental and social changespose a challenge to scientists to define a new socialcontract with society.

18. We do recognize and acknowledge that science is thepursuit of knowledge with an established process forinquiry, logic and validation. Scientists are curiousabout why things are the way they are and thus relishthe fun and challenges of problem-solving. Traditionalroles of science have been to discover, communicate,apply knowledge and to train the next generation ofscientists. Society supports science because of theunbounded benefits realized in the past andanticipates further benefits in the years to come.Society currently expects two outcomes from itsinvestment in science. The first is the production ofthe best possible science regardless of the area. Thisreflects "the expectation that scientists will search forthe truth about how nature works, producingreproducible, independently verifiable results,logically consistent theories and experiments thatexplain patterns in nature".

19. The second part of the contract reflects theanticipation that the investment by society will leadnot only to improvements in our understanding of theworld but also the achievement of goals that societydeems to be important - winning wars to conquerdiseases, creating products and improving the qualityof life of people consistent with sustainabledevelopment. This second component often weighsheavily in policy decisions about the allocation offunds by the government. As President John F.Kennedy stated, "Scientists alone can establishthe objectives of their research, but society, inextending support to science, must take accountof its own needs". Hence, both the rationale forpublic investment in science as well as specificdecisions about the allocations of resources is tied toexpected outcomes that are beneficial to society. Thesocial contract then ought to reflectthe commitment ofindividuals, groups of scientists and the scienceacademies to focus their efforts to maximize theiroutputs for societal benefit.

20. This social contract inter-alia then represents acommitmenton the part of all scientists to devote their.energies and talents to the pressing problems ofsociety in relation to their importance in exchange forpublic funding. The new and unmet needs of societyinclude more comprehensive information,

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understanding and technologies that help societymove towards a more sustainable biosphere - onewhich is ecologically sound, economically feasibleand socially just. Admittedly, science alone does nothold the power to achieve the goal of greatersustainability, but scientific knowledge and wisdomare needed to help informed decision making that willenable society to move towards that end. Sir, I havebeen striving hard to make the best use of scientificand research data our institutions have collected andcollated for the maximum benefit of our people. Letme cite a few instances. We have made a new policyby which accurate and up-to-date geospatial data, anextremely vital component for planning at all levels ismade available to all citizens and have created a softinfrastructure called the National Spatial DataInfrastructure (NSDI). A legislation is being initiated toposition an independent regulator/authority so as tofoster a flourishing geospatial industry in the country.Similarly a massive modernization of the Met servicesin the country is already in progress, which collatesthe innumerable land, oceanic and upper airobservations and integrates it with a state of the artforecasting system assisted by the mostsophisticated computers and scientists. We are alsostruggling to put in place an effective disseminationsystem so that the alerts and advisories of the Metdepartment reach the maximum number of people.Development of people's friendly technologies is the

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most important ingredient of our creed; the launch ofsolar powered cycle rickshaw (Soleckshaw), aneconomic and sturdy tractor (Krishishakti); the OpenSource Drug Discovery (OSDD), drinking water fromsea water projects, etc have been animated by thecommitment of our scientists to the welfare of thecommon man.

21. Sir, I feel that new fundamental research, faster andmore effective transmission of new and existingknowledge to policy and decision makers and bettercommunication of this knowledge to the public arerequired to meet this challenge. Most of the time, thesocial contract has been broken - as has beenabundantly demonstrated from the fact that thebenefits of science and technology have notsignificantly reached the majority living in thedeveloping world including India. Also the newinformation and communication technologies,despite their immense potential to deal withdevelopmental issues for the dissemination of cultureand education, bring forth new risks affecting not onlyfundamental individual rights such as the right toprivacy, but also the safety of trade and even nationalsecurity itself in the face of a growing potential forcyber and terror wars. This baffling conundrum isfurther reinforced when consideration is given to thepotentially harmful consequences, for bothindividuals and for society's very texture, arising from

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new findings in biology, particularly those bearing ongenetic manipulations. Thus the importance ofscientific engagement across society and thepotential for science to contribute to good policymaking and sound governance has never beengreater. I am convinced that it is only science that willhelp us address the main challenges we face as anation and as a planet to -• tackle and adapt to climate change,• ensure security against international

terrorism,• satiate the needs of a rising population for

food, water and other natural resources, and• combat the impact of human diseases such

as pandemic influenza, bird flu and animaldiseases such as foot and mouth and bluetongue.

22. Thus a new social contract conducive to establishingan egalitarian society that helps to tackle and solvethe monumental problems of society is needed. Inthis, the collaborative efforts of users andbeneficiaries and scientists are needed to build betteranalyses of cost-benefit risks that are relevant for on-the-ground decision makers. Collaboration betweenresearchers and users is also needed to mouldresearch priorities in ways that are conducive to assistboth. To ensure that we make the right decisions,

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now and in the future, I believe that there is a pressingneed to:• strengthen the level of high quality engagement

with the public on all major scientific issues; and• increase the number of people who choose to

study science subjects and take up researchand scientific careers.

23. Sir, two bottom-up mechanisms for suchcollaboration are firstly, community-based researchprojects, which allow local users and beneficiaries toinfluence the choice of research problems, participatein data collection and accept and integrate researchfindings; and the second is citizens' forums, whichallow local users to influence technological choice.The contract should thus be a strong call for newresearch and management approaches to facilitatethe investigation of complex, interdisciplinaryproblems that span multiple spatial and temporalscales; to encourage inter agency and internationalcooperation on societal problems; and to constructmore effective bridges between policy, management,and science, as well as the public and private sectors.I am sure the Science Congress will dwell and throwlight on some of these issues.

24. Sir, I am convinced that we need a society that isexcited by science; values its importance for our

social and economic wellbeing; feels confident in itsuse; and supports a representative well-qualifiedscientific workforce. It is obvious that for this we needto continue our efforts to ensure a strong futuresupply of scientists, engineers and technologists andto unlock the talents of all people in the country to usescience and technology to help them lead their livesmore richly.

25. Society is increasingly user-driven. We depend ontechnology and other science to support our dailylives. As the pace of scientific developmentaccelerates, so does the pace of change in society.But, in the absence of improved scientific literacyincluding an understanding of scientific evidence andrisk, the public will be unable to make informeddecisions for themselves and their families. They willnot be able to contribute effectively to political andethical debates surrounding such complex issues asGM foods, stem cell research, cloning, or nuclearenergy. I believe as scientists, we should be doingmuch more to proliferate scientific literacy widely andpervasively than hitherto.

26. Given the unprecedented faith that our Hon'ble PrimeMinister has reposed in science and technology andthe confidence and support accorded by the FinanceMinistry and the Planning Commission, we have

made good progress, especially in improvingthe number and quality of students pursuingR&D careers and the proportion of womenparticipants in research. The INSPIRE andthe PURSE programmes that you hadlaunched a fortnight ago, Sir, are our Ministry'srenewed endeavours in this direction. Givenyour support, we hope to be one amongst thetop ten countries by the end of the EleventhFive Year Plan period.

27. Sir, the two Ministries that you have entrustedto me have mounted several initiatives for theNorth Eastern Region. Hitherto only around5% of our S&T funding went to this region. Weare endeavouring to enhance that to 10% bythe end of this Plan period. As an initial step, 60colleges have already been provided a grant ofRS.50 lakhs each for strengthening theirlaboratory facilities and we are according thestatus and benefits of 'Star College' to severalof the colleges in the region. Other initiativesinclude special programmes for value additionto local resources of the region such as forquality planting material, bamboo applications,etc. We are now establishing a nodal centre ofthe Ministry in Shillong to provide integrated,holistic technology based solutions for the

development needs of the region. Sir, given thatthe region is inherently prone to naturaldisasters, we in the Ministry of Earth Sciencesare modernizing and strengthening theforecasting infrastructure by setting upautomatic weather and seismology systems atseveral locations in the region. Further, toenhance the reach of science and technologyto pupils and people in the region, we aremaking available publications and informationmaterial brought out by Vigyan Prasar andother agencies to schools and the public.

28. Sir, I am thus confident that the region due to itsresource endowments, natural as well ashuman, in time to come, will set a new paradigmfor science and technology based sustainabledevelopment that minimizes the consumptionof natural resources and maximizes humanvalue addition to capital resources.

Thank You!Jai Hind.