The Breakthrough Science Society called for "March for Science, India" 6 months after the event was held globally.
I marched.
There were about 100-200 people who marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in Delhi. For the number of institutes and universities located in Delhi (including the NCR), the participation was pathetic. Most of the number was made up by non-science faculty. My own school was represented by two of us and handful of students from one of the lab (the faculty was marching and he asked them to come). And when I think of the demonstration the students held on Science day couple of years back demanding for fellowship, I really do wonder about priorities. I also wonder about our (teachers) priorities. We grumble and groan about fund cuts, about poor quality of students, about life as a scientist but really, aren't we ourselves responsible for the abysmal situation? When it comes to crunch time, when we have to speak up, we don't. We back out. We worry about promotions, about membership to various academies, we worry about grant (oh, if we speak up the funding will be cut. It does. I have had first-hand experience in this matter but...)...in general we worry about everything but about science.
So the government continues to spend 0.8% of GDP on Science, knowing fully well that there will be no protests.
Rubbish continues to thrive. Vaastu Shastra masquerades as science. People flock to astrologer and numerologists- change the spelling of your name and your fortune will change. As my brother pointed out, only the English spelling seems to be targeted. There are astrologers who promise that fortune will change if one uses their particular brand of ash (vibhuthi). Then there gemologists who promise that the fortune will change if one wears a ring of particular stone. Wait a minute. I know of scientists as well as students who wear these rings.
I rest my case.
I marched.
There were about 100-200 people who marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in Delhi. For the number of institutes and universities located in Delhi (including the NCR), the participation was pathetic. Most of the number was made up by non-science faculty. My own school was represented by two of us and handful of students from one of the lab (the faculty was marching and he asked them to come). And when I think of the demonstration the students held on Science day couple of years back demanding for fellowship, I really do wonder about priorities. I also wonder about our (teachers) priorities. We grumble and groan about fund cuts, about poor quality of students, about life as a scientist but really, aren't we ourselves responsible for the abysmal situation? When it comes to crunch time, when we have to speak up, we don't. We back out. We worry about promotions, about membership to various academies, we worry about grant (oh, if we speak up the funding will be cut. It does. I have had first-hand experience in this matter but...)...in general we worry about everything but about science.
So the government continues to spend 0.8% of GDP on Science, knowing fully well that there will be no protests.
Rubbish continues to thrive. Vaastu Shastra masquerades as science. People flock to astrologer and numerologists- change the spelling of your name and your fortune will change. As my brother pointed out, only the English spelling seems to be targeted. There are astrologers who promise that fortune will change if one uses their particular brand of ash (vibhuthi). Then there gemologists who promise that the fortune will change if one wears a ring of particular stone. Wait a minute. I know of scientists as well as students who wear these rings.
I rest my case.
Frankly, I'm surprised that people even turned up for the march.
ReplyDeleteThe pursuit of Science has become a pointless activity in our country. No matter which government is in place, right-wing or left-wing or whatever, the attitude towards Science has always been non-encouraging, to say the least.
The current government has been especially stingy on funding. Even sanctioned funds have been withdrawn in some cases. Not just that, procurement of scientific equipment has become ridiculously difficult. As a vendor of imported instruments, I have had the worst year of my life. Lost a great deal of business because of absurd terms of purchase. Added to that are GST woes and Aadhar confusion. The business from academic institutes this year, for me, has been zero. Since I depend exclusively on academic institutes for my living, my net income till date is also zero.
So much for 'achche din'.
The current government is high on rhetoric and equally low on delivery. They would rather rave about our glorious past "achievements", such as they are, viz, that Ganesha's head was attached by plastic surgery, the Kauravas were born by cloning, Ravana's vimana was a supersonic airplane, and so on.
If this is how our elected leaders are, what scientific temper do you expect in our country? As you have noted, our own scientists lack that temper.
When I visit IISc and my alma UDCT (ICT, Mumbai), or any other "premier" institute, I note that in almost every academic's chamber, there is a religious icon on the walls. In ICT, one particular godman from Andhra with an Afro hairstyle is quite popular, as is another godman from Shirdi. A scientist I knew would not start his experiments during Rahu kalam, while another would break coconuts at the nearest shrine if his experiment succeeded. (Nothing can happen without God's will, as he explained to me).
With scientists like this being research guides, it is no surprise that we produce incompetent PhD's. It is also no surprise that about 50% of research papers from India are dubious, if not outright fakes.
The few good scientists the country does produce leave our shores. The US and Canada still get our best scientists. (I am astonished that you chose to come back, and even more astonished that you are still here).
Bad days ahead for Indian Science, professor. And involuntary retirement for me.
SK Srinivas