NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is of the view that foreign-funded NGOs, especially those from the United States and Scandinavian countries are engineering popular unrest on Indian soil and standing in the way of India’s growth prospects, without understanding the country’s needs and challenges.
Citing the stalling of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu and the moratorium on the release of Bt Brinjal as examples, the Prime Minister told ‘Science’ magazine in an interview, “Biotechnology has enormous potential, and in due course of time we must make use of genetic engineering technologies to increase the productivity of our agriculture. But there are controversies. There are NGOs, often funded from the United States and the Scandinavian countries, which are not fully appreciative of development challenges that our country faces.”
Drawing an analogy with China, the PM seemed to suggest that popular protests cannot be ignored by an elected Government in India.
“But we are a democracy, we are not like China,” he added, by way of explanation.
When asked whether India is competing with China, the PM adopted a cautious note maintaining that the problems of the past-that is of the 1960s-have been put aside, and “pathways to promote cooperation” are being found.
That Singh has a utilitarian approach towards scientific research becomes apparent from his comment that science and technology in India has to focus more on “raising the living standard” of the people, rather than on sending “human space flights”.