The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award was finally announced. As expected 12 men were awarded. If you were to look carefully at the list, you will notice also that most of the men belonged to one state. All of them work in Institutes. The Print carried an article by Mohana Basu who asked where are the women. The Hindu had an editorial asking not only where are the women but what about the scientists working in Universities.
Sadly, we do not exist. Despite the hype about how women were at the forefront in ISRO, the fact that there is a women DG helming CSIR, it is the sad fact that we are ignored. In fact, I was very amused at the Whatsapp messages circulated by my school friends who lauded the ISRO women scientists for wearing saree to the work place. Why is it that men are never asked to wear dhoti or panchagajam? That is the traditional attire isn't it? The reality is that we laud women not for their achievements but for wearing sarees and being a good mom along with being scientist. No one ever asks whether the man is a good Dad.
As for the Universities, well, the less said the better. The Universities never had great funding and now, it has been reduced to almost nothing. The Central Universities are still in a better position than the State Universities. I do not want to talk about appointments/recruitments in the Univerisities because every one knows how they happen. That being the case, no one is going to fight our case.
Finally, the committees are helmed by men employed in the Institutes. So unless we consciously make a case for women and for Universities, nothing much is going to change.
