Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM lays foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata

"I am truly delighted to be here todayon this historic occasion to lay the foundation stone of yet another great temple of learning that is the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. I am very happy that we have been able to fulfill an important promise which we made to our people to build new centers of higher learning in science and technology at a pace which would compare favourably with what has been done in the recent past. This was also a promise to the people of West Bengal and Calcutta that one of the institutes will be located in this great state of the Union. That is as it should be after all how can we forget that Bengal was home to Indian renaissance in the19th century and the early 20th century and provided in our country an environment in which science began to flourish.

The Bengal renaissance was a mighty force that widened India's intellectual horizons. It opened new vistas of learning, scholarship and, above all, created a new movement for social change. The traditions of science in Bengal enormously contributed to this process. The scientists of Bengal who had attained eminence at the world level such as Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose, Dr Prafulla Chandra Ray and Prof. Meghnad Saha, Prof. P.C.Mahalanbis captured the spirit of the Bengal Renaissance and spread scientific culture in Bengal and throughout the rest of our country. It is not surprising that the great Nobel laureate, Sir C V Raman made Kolkata his home and attracted students from across the country to his laboratories here.

One of the great strengths of our educational policy after Independence was that we attached great importance to science and to creating and nurturing great institutions of excellence. Our beloved Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had a deep and abiding interest in science education and research. In one of his early speeches as Prime Minister he said:

'The modern world is a world of science. Whatever the sphere of life we examine, we find we cannot live without science. That is why we have determined that our country should progress in science. We should produce high-class scientists. We require them in thousands. Only then our country will progress'.

`It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening custom and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, of a rich country inhabited by starving people...Who indeed could afford to ignore science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid...the future belongs to science and to those who make friends with science'. These were the prophetic words of Jawaharlal Nehru.

This vision has guided our policy on science. It has been a policy of 'walking on two legs' - of emphasizing the importance of pursuit of excellence and world class science, while at the same time underlining the role of science and technology in addressing the pressing, simple and the daily needs of the common man.

Jawaharlal Nehru said of Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, 'Great he was of course, but the particular line in which he showed his greatness was, if I may say so, rather typical in one way of the modern age and in another, of India. It was a kind of marriage in his mind of ancient tradition or philosophy with modern scientific knowledge. He was a pioneer in a much bigger way - in trying to bring about marriage between two mighty urges and forces, something which I believe has become essential in the world today.' I salute this great contribution of Bengal to Indian science and to the growth of human knowledge.

I welcome the decision of the group of eminent scientists led by Prof. C.N.R.Rao who have helped define the mission of your institute to combine the words "education and research" in your name. One of the weaknesses of the Indian scientific system, as it has evolved in recent years, has been the increasing disconnect between teaching and research. Universities teach, sometimes indefinitely, national laboratories do research. This dichotomy must end. Moreover, with increasing investment by industry in research, it is necessary that the link between teaching and research be strengthened even further.

I think it is Louis Pasteur who said that "There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are science and the applications of science, bound together as the fruit of the tree which bears it". This has historically been characteristic of our approach in India, as exemplified by the work of the pioneers in science I have already referred to. These men of learning have carried forward, in an unbroken chain, the true intellectual heritage of our country - the quest for knowledge.

I believe it was Sir Winston Churchill who once said that the empires of the future are going to be the empires of the mind. And I believe, in this 21st century which is increasingly being described as the knowledge century, we cannot therefore, lag behind in the pursuit of knowledge particularly in the fields of science and technology. I believe that where there is good science, good applications follow. It is fundamental chemistry that gave us catalysts, polymers, semiconductors and nanomaterials. It is good biology that gave us the green revolution and the hepatitis vaccines. Therefore, it is meaningless to debate what our priority should be - whether it should be basic or applied science. I think the answer is both. We need to have both basic and applied knowledge, and the ability to utilise them to the best advantage of our national effort. It will be our endeavour to promote good science, and useful applications will emerge from it. Our idea in setting up this institution in West Bengal and two more similar ones, developed along the lines of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, is to facilitate the renewed resurgence in Indian science.

We are committed to rebuilding the science base in universities. This will include creating synergy between new initiatives in S&T and our university system. I call upon all the state governments in our country to rededicate themselves to revitalize the university system in our country. We will work together to promote the cause of excellence. We will use wherever necessary public-private partnerships, to increase funding for frontier areas of scientific and technological research. We will de-bureaucratise science and technology institutions and ensure their academic autonomy prevails. We will create exciting career opportunities for scientists so that we can retain our talent at home.

I have often said that we live in an era where science and technology have come to increasingly define the pace and quality of development. The emerging knowledge society will require graduates on a massive scale with basic training in mathematics, science and engineering disciplines.

However, I am concerned by the fact that our best minds are not turning to science, and those who do, do not stay committed to science. I understand that in a recent nation-wide study launched by the Indian National Science Academy and conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research, it was revealed that less than 3% of school children wanted to pursue a career in science. We cannot accept this. We have to improve, therefore, the quality of teaching and increase the enrolment of students in science and mathematics at the school level. As a nation, we must find new pathways of making scientific disciplines more attractive to our children and to our young people and therefore, widen the base of future scientists.

I am told the Rand Corporation has recently classified 22 of 192 nations of the world as scientifically advanced, 24 as scientifically proficient, 40 as scientifically developing and the rest as deficient. India is ranked among the scientifically proficient nations. We must ask ourselves how we move from the 'scientifically proficient' category to the rank of scientifically advanced nations. We cannot be satisfied with what we are doing in the field of education in Science and Technology. Countries such as China and South Korea are far ahead of us in investing in the future of science and technology in their countries. We need to do much more in this vital area if we have to keep pace with the evolving global economy of the future.

It is clear that Jawaharlal Nehru's dream of 'scientists by the thousands' must be realised if we are to become a scientifically advanced nation. Yet, as I have said before, the deteriorating health of our Universities in the past two decades has hobbled our scientific research base. It has not grown fast enough, commensurate with needs of our country. While a few good scientific institutions have come up in recent years, they cannot be a substitute for the spread, vitality and vibrancy of an expanding university system. Reconstruction of our university system, therefore, must be a top priority and the issue has to be addressed comprehensively, not in a piecemeal fashion.

I do believe that the Government has an obligation and a responsibility to invest in education at all levels. We also need to recognize the contribution of the private sector in the expansion of our education system and must, therefore, evolve a cooperative partnership for harnessing all possible resources.

At the same time, we require not only more investment but also a new bold vision to modernize our society and tradition through quality education. Recently there has been some discussion in our country on our policy toward centers of excellence. I have repeatedly said that our Government is committed both to excellence and to widening access in education, especially higher education and research. We will commit adequate resources for a massive expansion of our higher education system so that every section of society has adequate opportunities for fulfilling their educational aspirations. This expansion has become even more pressing because we cannot continue to claim to be a rising "knowledge power" if less than 8% of our college going age group is enrolled in the college and university system. We cannot have pretensions about being a leading "knowledge power" if we do not substantially upgrade our scientific and technological expertise - both in quality and quantity. It is only through a massive expansion in education that India can position itself as a knowledge economy. And our government is committed to make this happened.

I am concerned that we are not building new institutions of excellence at the pace at which a large country like ours must. I once again urge our countrymen, our intellectuals and our political leaders - let us work together to preserve the great institutions that our forefathers created. Let us walk forward and build new institutions that will make India proud. I also urge the more privileged sections of our society to invest in creating new and wider opportunities for the education and skill building of the less privileged sections of our society.

I sincerely hope the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research will encourage its students in this part of the country to move into the science discipline. I also hope you will be able to attract new talent to Kolkata and help Kolkata regain its place of eminence in the world of Indian Science. The people of West Bengal have to be congratulated for standing steadfast in their opposition to ideologies which seek to divide our people on the basis of religion or caste. India's future will depend on our ability to imbibe what Jawaharlal Nehru used to describe as the scientific temper. The people of West Bengal have to be the pace setters in this quest and I sincerely hope that this Indian Institute of Science Education and Research will play a leading role in making this come about."