IMPROVE QUALITY & QUANTITY OF SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH: PM
SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR AWARDS
PRESENTED
The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari
Vajpayee has called upon the Indian science and technology establishments
to improve the quality and quantity of scientific research in
India so that the country could march towards self-reliance through
sustainable development. Presenting the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar
awards at a ceremony in New Delhi, today the Prime Minister posed
four basic questions to the Indian scientists and technology establishments,
which he said are agitating the minds of an ordinary citizen of
our country:
- Can our scientists help us with easier and
more cost-effective ways of conserving and recycling water?
- Can you develop better ways of running our systems
for drinking water, and water for industrial and other uses?
- Can you take your research in dry-land farming and drought-resistant
seeds to our kisans in rain-dependent areas?
- Can we improve our weather prediction ability, so that our
forecasts are more accurate and reliable?
The Prime Minister reminded that with a target
of achieving 8 per cent GDP growth rate in the Tenth Five Year
Plan, we have pledged ourselves not to carry the 20th
legacy of poverty and unemployment too far into the 21st
century and have adopted the energizing vision of India as a developed
nation by year 2020. This lofty vision can be realized only by
achieving faster and a more balanced economic growth. For this
we need far greater inputs of science and technology in every
area of economic activity – both modern and traditional, the Prime
Minister added.
The following is the text of the Prime Minister’s
address on the occasion:
"As has already been mentioned, this function
ought to have taken place on 27th July. However, it
had to be postponed due to the sudden demise of Vice President
Shri Krishan Kant. At the outset, I join all of you in once again
paying my homage to Krishan Kantji.
Friends, this is the fourth Bhatnagar
Awards function that I have the privilege to address. But there
is something special about it.
I think we have now begun to pay greater recognition
to our scientists. Just recently, India recognized a distinguished
scientist by welcoming him as the 12th President of
our Republic.
I can assure you that others won’t grudge scientists
this honour. Because, the more science flourishes, the more India
will benefit. The more Indian scientists are recognized, the brighter
will India’s image shine.
I cannot help but recall what I said four years
ago in this hall on this very same occasion. Congratulating Dr.
Abdul Kalam on his being recognized with the nation’s highest
civilian honour, I had noted -- in a lighter vein – that he was
honoured with a Bharat Ratna, whereas I had been awarded only
a Padma Vibhushan.
But I had hastened to add that this was because
the Indian tradition held in the highest esteem scholars and persons
of learning, and accorded the gyani a higher pedestal than
even the raja.
Therefore, it gives me special pleasure in joining
all of you in welcoming a great gyani, a humble vigyani,
and an inspiring patriot in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
I would like to congratulate all the talented
young scientists who have won the prestigious Bhatnagar award.
You have excelled in doing world-class research. What is more,
you have been honoured for work done in India.
I am told that most of the Bhatnagar awardees
have continued to remain and work in India. This is indeed creditable.
I would like to see more and more Indian scientists,
working in India do pioneering research, develop their institutions
as centers of global excellence and win international acclaim.
I would also like the CSIR to take up a study on the impact of
the work of the Bhatnagar awardees on global science and technology.
Friends, whenever I address a gathering
of scientists, I am often at a loss to decide what to speak. I
cannot talk about science on any kind of equal footing because
I know very little about science.
But what I do know, both as a citizen and as
the Head of the Government, is that science can make an immense
contribution to our country’s all-round development and to improving
the lives of our people.
It is this knowledge that makes me seek your
partnership in the gigantic tasks that lie before our nation.
As all of you know we have just begun the 10th
Five Year Plan. We have set a target of achieving a GDP growth
rate of 8 per cent and more on a sustainable basis. Some might
say that this target is over-ambitious. I would say that it is
an inescapable imperative.
The reasons are obvious. We have pledged to ourselves
that we refuse to carry the 20th century’s legacy of
poverty and unemployment too far into the 21st century.
We recognize that it is the birth right of every Indian to live
a decent life and grow to his or her full potential. We have adopted
the energizing vision of India as a Developed Nation by
year 2020.
This lofty vision can be realized only by achieving
faster and a more balanced economic growth. To accomplish this,
I am convinced that we have to adopt the strategy of productivity-led
growth. This strategy needs far greater inputs of science and
technology than before in every area of economic activity in our
country—both modern and traditional.
Our country also needs reliable inputs of science
and technology in the many pressing problems that we face. For
example, after 12 good monsoons in a row, we are now facing a
drought in several parts of the country. The question that an
ordinary kisan and an ordinary citizen have in mind today is also
my question to you:
- Can our scientists help us with easier and more cost-effective
ways of conserving and recycling water?
- Can you develop better ways of running our systems for drinking
water, and water for industrial and other uses?
- Can you take your research in dry-land farming and drought-resistant
seeds to our kisans in rain-dependent areas?
- Can we improve our weather prediction ability, so that our
forecasts are more accurate and reliable?
I think that our country has not yet woken up
sufficiently to the looming water crisis. We have to manage our
land and water resources better if we want to avoid this crisis.
While the government and different categories of water users have
to play their part, we expect our scientists to help us with research-based,
practical and affordable solutions.
Problems in the energy sector are another area
of serious concern for our country. We must rapidly reduce our
excessive dependence on fossil fuels, much of which we import
from other countries. We have to vastly step up the use of solar,
wind, bio-mass and other renewable sources of energy.
I am told that we can save – in other words,
we can generate – over the next 10 years nearly 25,000
MW of power through energy conservation and demand-side management,
and another 12,000 MW of power through renovation and modernization
of existing plants. There is also much saving to be achieved by
cutting the losses in our transmission and distribution systems,
and by improving our billing and collection activities.
I am aware that these involve necessary policy
and administrative initiatives by the Central and State Governments.
We are making concerted efforts to push reforms in the power sector.
But all of you will agree that technology can greatly help us
in our endeavour. And this is where I urge our scientists and
engineers to rise to the occasion.
Distinguished scientists,
Conservation and better utilization of water,
energy and land resources are not merely our national concerns.
They have become global concerns, accompanied by a growing sense
of urgency for collective action.
This is evident from the debate at the ongoing
Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
More than ever before in human history, the need
for sustainable development, properly balanced with environmental
protection, has engaged the attention of governments, NGOs, scientists,
entrepreneurs, and common people all over the world. All are also
united in the recognition that we can effectively face this challenge
only through a proper combination of global, regional, national
and local action.
We in India fervently hope that the Johannesburg
summit carries the agenda of sustainable development towards strong
consensual action.
At the core of this consensus lie the attitude
and action of developed nations of the world. They have to agree
to make amends to their many unfulfilled obligations.
As far as India is concerned, our tasks in achieving
the objective of sustainable development are very clear. We have
to improve the living standards of all our citizens, especially
those who have so far been deprived of the fruits of development.
But even as we proceed to achieve this goal, we have to be extremely
mindful of protection of our precious ecology and environment.
What is also very clear is that we have to succeed
in these tasks essentially with our own national effort. Nobody
from outside is going to come and solve our problems for us. We
may learn from others’ experiences, we may even receive cooperation
from others, but the main effort will have to be our own.
Hence, if I have to round off my remarks today
with one single message to CSIR and, in general, to India’s Science
& Technology establishment, it is this:
Strengthen the contribution of Indian
science and technology in India’s self-reliant march towards
sustainable development.
Before I conclude, let me briefly join my voice
to the concerns expressed by Dr. Joshi about the decline in both
the quantity and quality of scientific research in India.
The scientific community, and those engaged in
the administration of our S&T establishment, are the best
judge of why this is happening.
The corrective to this situation also has to
come principally from you.
The Government has done all it can, through substantially
enhanced and innovative funding, to help you arrest and reverse
this trend. And we will continue to do more.
I would like our scientific community to take
up this challenge with determination, and carry out all the attendant
tasks with utmost dedication.
I would like the heads of all of our S&T
establishments – CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, DRDO, IISc, IITs, universities,
and all others – to provide stronger and more focused leadership
to this effort.
I am sure that Dr. Joshi, who has articulated
this problem with such passion, will soon devise an action plan
to promote excellence in Indian science.
I conclude my remarks by once again congratulating
the Bhatnagar awardees and wishing them continued success in their
careers.
Thank you".
