Eternal India Encyclopedia

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The backbone of scientific research is the pool of scientific and technical manpower. After Independence the number of higher educational institutions has steadily grown. There are 211 (in 1993) universities with about 9,600 affiliated colleges, including 5,127 Arts, Commerce and Science colleges, 79 Agriculture & Forestry colleges, 192 Law colleges, 612 Medical colleges, 1,504 Teacher Training colleges and 1,603 Engineering colleges. The scientific and technical manpower increased from about 1.88 lakhs in 1950 to 40 lakhs in 1990. Nearly 2,00,000 qualified S&T personnel are being produced annually. Although the major thrusts in science and technology came after Independence in 1947 the British Government in India had taken some steps in this direction during the '30s and later during the emergency created by the Second World War. In the decade preceding Independence there were just 20 uni- versities, 500 arts and science colleges and 140 colleges of profes- sional and technical education. Eight universities offered post- graduate courses in different branches of science and 38 engineer- ing colleges were imparting training to nearly 3000 students annu- ally. The total number of scientific societies was around 60, 9 for physical sciences, 11 for medical sciences, 14 for biological sci- ences including agriculture, 15 for engineering and technology and 10 of a general nature. The average annual turnout of post- graduate science students was 900 and of engineering students 1000 . As the number of scientific institutions increased the need was ,felt for periodic conferences of scientific workers at which informa- tion on research activities could be exchanged. In January 1914 the first session of the Indian Science Congress was held under the Presidentship of Asutosh Mukherjee at Calcutta in the premises of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. Thirty-five scientific papers were discussed in five sections (Chemistry, Physics, Zoology, Botany and Ethnology) and over a hundred scientists from differ- ent parts of the country were present. In his presidential address Asutosh Mukherjee said: "Personal association amongst scientific men is pregnant with important consequences, not merely by a fruitful exchange of ideas. The cultivation of science, by periodical meetings and discussions, may bring their aims and views promi- nently into public notice and may also, where necessary, press them upon the attention of the Government, a contingency by no means remote; for, as experience has shown, even the most en- lightened governments occasionally require to be reminded of the full extent of the paramount claims of science upon the public funds." Asutosh Mukherjee played a vital role in making the Calcutta University the first institution to start post-graduate teaching and research in 1916. As a result of his efforts some leading men of Bengal came forward with large endowments for the purpose. By 1919 Calcutta University had post-graduate classes in physics and applied physics, chemistry, applied mathematics and experimental physiology. Apart from the scientific organisations there were agencies like the Indian Research Fund Association (1911) which later devel- oped into the Indian Council for Medical Research; the Imperial Council for Agricultural Research (1929) and the Board of Scien- tific and Industrial Research (1940), the forerunner of the Council

of Scientific and Industrial Research (1942), which was estab- lished to organise research programmes to meet the demands of the war situation. Soon after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation for the growth of science and technology. In March 1958 he moved the Scientific Policy Resolution in Parliament. The aims of this policy were, among others, "to foster, promote and sustain, by all appropriate means, the cultivation of science and scientific re- search in all its aspects pure, applied and educationally, to ensure an adequate supply, within the country, of research scientists of the highest quality, and to recognise their work as important com- ponents of the strength of the nation; to ensure that the creative talent of men and women is encouraged and finds full scope in scientific activity; to encourage individual initiative for the acquisi- tion and dissemination of knowledge and for the discovery of new knowledge, in an atmosphere of academic freedom; and in general, to secure for the people of the country all the benefits that can accrue from the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge as also to offer good conditions of service to scientists and accord them an honoured position by associating scientists with the for- mulation of policies." Even before the adoption of the Scientific Policy Resolution, Nehru had set up an Advisory Committee for co-ordinating various scientific activities under his chairmanship and the Scientific Advi- sory Committee to the Cabinet (SACC) under the chairmanship of H.J. Bhabha to advise the Cabinet on the formulation and implem- entation of the Government's science policy. In 1968 SACC was replaced by the Committee on Science and Technology (COST) with wider terms of reference and broader composition of its mem- bers under the chairmanship of a member of the Planning Commis- sion. To meet the newer urges of the scientific community and of the nation itself the Government set up the National Committee on Science and Technology (NCST) to replace COST. The functions of the new committee included the preparation, evaluation and up- dating of a national science plan. A significant step was taken by the NCST to prepare for the first time a comprehensive S&T Plan (1974-79). National expenditure on science and technology activities which constitute mainly research and development expenditure and to a small extent the supporting activities of R&D has gone up from Rs. 4,68 crores per year in 1951 to Rs. 4000 crores in 1991. But as a percentage of GNP S&T expenditure has increased by only 50 times. Many developed countries spend 2% of GNP or more on S&T.