Skip to content

Rajesh Kochhar

Author of The Vedic People ( Orient BlackSwan), English Education in India, 1715-1835 (Routledge), and (jointly with Jayant Narlikar) of Astronomy in India (INSA)

Delusions of Science (2007)

Rajesh Kochhar 01/12/2008 No Comments

Times of India Editorial 31 January 2007

Delusions on science
Rajesh Kochhar

Addressing a scientific meeting in IIT Mumbai, prime minister Manmohan Singh very rightly expressed his concern “about the decline in the standards of our research work in universities and even in the IITs”.

He spoke about the “disconnect between research and teaching in the sciences” and wanted “more and more of our bright students [to] opt for a career in science”.

The audience could not have helped notice the disconnect between the PM’s address and that of the state chief minister which preceded his. The CM showered fulsome praise on Indian S&T, declaring that “our research works are of international quality”, and that “India is virtually ruling Silicon Valley”.

Why is there such a divergence of perception about the state of science in India? If a problem is to be solved, first of all there should be an agreement that the problem exists.

Nation-building seems to have been sacrificed at the altar of globalisation, and self-delusion has begun to get rid of the guilt feeling. If we close our eyes we can see India shining.
Addressing a scientific meeting in IIT Mumbai, prime minister Manmohan Singh very rightly expressed his concern “about the decline in the standards of our research work in universities and even in the IITs”.

He spoke about the “disconnect between research and teaching in the sciences” and wanted “more and more of our bright students [to] opt for a career in science”.

The audience could not have helped notice the disconnect between the PM’s address and that of the state chief minister which preceded his. The CM showered fulsome praise on Indian S&T, declaring that “our research works are of international quality”, and that “India is virtually ruling Silicon Valley”.

Why is there such a divergence of perception about the state of science in India? If a problem is to be solved, first of all there should be an agreement that the problem exists.

Nation-building seems to have been sacrificed at the altar of globalisation, and self-delusion has begun to get rid of the guilt feeling. If we close our eyes we can see India shining.

A couple of years ago, the visiting Chinese deputy science minister told this writer and his colleagues that since China could not compete with the West on the cutting-edge technologies of today, it was making money from technologies of yesterday and investing them in technologies of the future.

India, on the other hand, is so busy celebrating its petty successes on the services front that it shows no eagerness to graduate from wages to royalties, leave aside develop new technologies.

China honours those of her countrymen who return home and strengthen its economy. India honours those who leave the country and succeed abroad.

The golden age of Indian science occurred when universities and colleges were a nationalist seat of learning. During World War II, the western countries tempo-rarily transferred all available manpower to assist in war effort.

As soon as the war ended, the intellectual capital of the universities was restored. Unfortunately what was an emergency measure for the West was made into a national policy by India, with the result that focus shifted to national labs and universities were crippled.
A university with its informal and slightly chaotic ambience, availability of young, inquisitive and restless young men and women, freedom from the constraints of hierarchy as also the stifling influence of confidential reports is the right place for recognising, nurturing and employing talent.

If the government wants really independent opinion it can come only from uni-versities and colleges and not from government labs.

There is an instructive true story recorded by a bird watcher. Father bird would bring in food, deposit it on the floor of the nest from where the mother bird would pick it up and feed the baby.

The mother died; the father continued to bring in the food and leave it on the floor. But there was nobody to feed the baby who died of starvation. State is like the father bird; science the baby; and education the mother bird.

The writer is former director, National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies.

Blogs (Articles)
India | research | science | teaching

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Posts

  • Faqir Chand Kohli (1924-2020) 06/12/2020
  • Caste discrimination: India must disown parts of ancient texts that contradict the Constitution 27/10/2020
  • BANSI LAL(1927-2006): Haryana Chief Minister 26/08/2020
  • Panjab University Chandigarh 1947-2007 15/08/2020
  • A schizophrenic India cannot advance scientifically 08/08/2020
  • World of tech-savvy Ganesha (The Tribune (Life style) Chandigarh 6 Apr. 2007) 25/07/2020

  • BAKED NEWS
  • CV: Brief
  • CV: Detailed
  • INVENTIONS, etc
  • Jokes (updated 22-Mar-2017)
  • Lectures delivered in India and abroad since 2006
  • Photographs
  • Rajesh Kochhar: List of select publications, with hyperlinks

Archives

Downloads

  • 1. Papers/Book Chapters/Lecture Texts
  • Blogs (Articles)
  • Reflections and Insights

Tags

Ancient India Aryabhata astronomy Avesta chandrayaan China colonial history Colonial India colonialism colonial science CSIR dhokra East India Company eclipse education English education globalization Government College Lahore Hinduism India Indian science innovation internet IPR IT Ketu Kodaikanal Observatory Mahatma Gandhi Nobel prize outsourcing P.C. Ray Panjab University pesticides Punjab University Lahore Rahu Rigveda Ruchi Ram Sahni science science education science policy seductive orientalism sextant technology Thomas Godfrey traditional knowledge
January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

Recent Comments

  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • DESH PAL ALAGH on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • vinay vig on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
Copyright © 2021. Rajesh Kochhar
Powered By WordPress and Silver Quantum