Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Address by Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of the presentation of Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prizes

Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Shri Bachi Singh Rawat, Dr. Mashelkar, Dr. Krishan Lal, Award winners, my young scientist friends and other distinguished guests,

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.

He had a personal association with the CSIR, having started his working career with this organization. Therefore, 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.