A group of eminent scientists have written to the Prime Minister's Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA), Ajay Sood, requesting clarification on whether "unfair non-scientific considerations" influenced this year's selection of recipients for the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) Awards.
According to media reports, the exclusion of three prominent scientists, who have previously criticised the government, from the final stage of selection has raised concerns about the "integrity" of the process, prompting several scientists to question the fairness of the selection criteria.
Notably, the Centre dissolved the existing science awards in 2023, integrating them into the broader RVP framework, which is awarded for outstanding contributions to science and technology. This includes the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Award, India's top honour in multidisciplinary science established in 1958.
The RVP is now categorised into the Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, alongside the Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, and Vigyan Team awards.
In a letter to the Office of the PSA, a group of scientists, including former SSB award recipients, called for transparency, asking if the selection for the RVP was "fully fair", "transparent" and "free of extraneous considerations."
The Wire, in its report, quoted the letter from 26 scientists who expressed concern, stating: "Our queries are prompted by disquieting media reports which suggest that unfair non-scientific considerations may have influenced the final list of this year’s awardees, overriding the recommendations of the Experts Committee."
"We very much hope that these fears are unfounded and feel that complete and detailed procedural transparency is the best way to set all doubts to rest and to preserve the integrity of this prestigious award," the scientists further wrote.
The media report cited in the letter refers to a Telegraph article from last month, which reported the exclusion of two candidates recommended by the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Committee (RVPC), a select panel of experts, from the final list of awardees.
Additionally, an Indian Express report from September 17 highlighted the exclusion of a third candidate from the 2024 final list.
Notably, 33 awardees were announced for RVP 2024—one Vigyan Ratna, 13 Vigyan Shri, 18 Vigyan Yuva, and one Vigyan Team—as per the final list released by the PSA's office on August 7.
The awards were conferred by President Droupadi Murmu on August 22.
The Telegraph reported that one of the scientists whose name was dropped had expressed opposition to certain decisions by the Modi government and questioned the restrictions on opportunities to discuss socio-political issues in academic institutions.
According to IE, the candidates whose names were excluded include Suvrat Raju, a physicist at ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru; Prateek Sharma, a physicist at IISc, Bengaluru; and Suman Chakraborty of IIT Kharagpur.
IE reported that Raju and Sharma had criticised IISc for its last-minute cancellation of a discussion on the UAPA last year. Both physicists had also signed open letters voicing concerns over the Citizenship Amendment Act and NIA action in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Meanwhile, the rechristening of the awards was not the only change enacted by the Union government. The selection committee was also revised, with bureaucrats included for the first time and final approvals now coming from the Union Minister for Science and Technology.
PSA Sood, the chairperson of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Committee (RVPC), oversees a panel that includes secretaries from science departments, members of science and engineering academies, and distinguished scientists and technologists from various fields. This panel sends the final list of awardees to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Earlier, the selection for the SSB awards was carried out by various committees featuring former Bhatnagar award winners in each field.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) convened meetings of these advisory committees and selected the recipients for SSB prizes in consultation with the CSIR Chairman.
According to another Telegraph report, the letter to the PSA was signed by biologists, mathematicians, and physicists from some of India’s top academic and research institutions, many of whom have previously served on expert committees selecting SSB Award winners.
The signatories requested that the government make public the details of the committees and the criteria used in their decision-making, as no such information was available on the government website.
"In our experience, the recommendations of previous expert committees have always been fully reflected in the final list of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardees," the scientists wrote.
"To uphold the integrity of the Bhatnagar award, we seek assurance that the procedures and criteria for determining the Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards are entirely fair, transparent, and free of extraneous considerations," they added.