Role of Science in INDIA

The strength of a nation is no longer determined merely by the might of its armies. It comes from the quality of its collective knowledge, the productivity of its working people, the creativity of its entrepreneurs and the dedication of its professional work force.

A country’s prosperity too is a function of the knowledge its people possess and acquire. Indeed, it has always been so. But, what has changed in the last few decades is the access to knowledge. We live in an era of greater equity and equality as far as the acquisition of knowledge is concerned.

In an increasingly globalized world and with the ease of modern communications, it is possible for researchers to work in multiple environments even as they stay stationed at one place. But the great merit in being located in one place for a reasonable length of time is that new generations of researchers can benefit from the intellectual leadership provided by talented people. And India surely needs such leadership in ample measure.

Many young persons today may think it is not exactly wise to leave the comfort of well funded institutions abroad to return home to work in India. The infrastructure our universities and research institutions provide may not be world class, though, some institutions in the private sector, do provide world class facilities but we need many such facilities all over the country.

But, having accepted all the inadequacies of India’s research infrastructure, if there are young men and women who are willing to work here and produce world class research despite all the constraints they may face, we must salute their wisdom, their grit and determination and their love for their country. Therefore, I join each one of you in saluting the distinguished researchers of today.

But researchers are not just servants who do the bidding of their paymasters. They are driven by curiosity and seek knowledge often for its own sake. The fundamental discoveries of physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and biology have come from this thirst for understanding rather than from any social compulsion.

I belong to a generation that worried about the links between science and society. Scientific temper, we believed, would help India make the transition from a traditional to a modern society. We saw the development of science as intrinsic to the advancement of modernism, pluralism and liberalism.

But, it is true that science has made strides even in societies that were neither modern nor liberal. It is true that the products of science have been put sometimes to illiberal uses. I sincerely believe we must guard against such tendencies, especially in our own blessed country.

Take modern developments in the bio-sciences for instance. We are now acquiring the capacity to manipulate the human genome. But we have yet not developed an ethical framework that defines red lines that we must not cross as we do this.

The question is whether researchers should step beyond their discipline and at least guide the social discourse on the use of scientific knowledge. Should they develop a code of conduct that defines the limits within which they will work on the application of their discoveries? Should there be a collegial process for deciding difficult cases? I leave these as questions because the very idea of ethics for science needs further discussion.