Fewer awards will rust scientific temper
In one silent stroke, the Union government has decided to do away with over 200 awards, including scholarships, fellowships and internal awards for scientific excellence. This happened at a meeting on September 16 chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to rationalise how selections are made and awards given in various sectors, including science and technology. The meeting, and the decision, follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directions to transform the ecosystem of awards by making the selection process transparent and objective. But it could be devastating for the scientific community.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has cut the number of awards from 207 to just four national awards. It is discontinuing private endowments, lecture-, scholarship- and fellowship-based awards, and internal awards. The prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, too, was not announced on September 26, as is the practice every year. It recognises outstanding Indian work in science and technology and is given to scientists under 45 engaged in research. The meeting suggested that these be replaced by awards of “very high stature”. It called for instituting a ‘Vigyan Ratna’ on the lines of the Nobel Prize. The Centre has asked the Department of Space, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Department of Atomic Energy to scrap all existing awards and institute new high-stature awards.
The intentions may be good, but how it has been brought about could shake up the scientific community. Fewer incentives and awards could demoralise the younger scientists. This comes when fewer youngsters are taking to basic scientific research while preferring high-paid jobs in various other sectors.
It would only douse the scientific temper among young scientists while discouraging youngsters from taking to basic scientific research. Ironically, the decision coincides with calls from the scientific community and academicians to increase funding and incentives for scientific research in universities. Questions need to be raised about the Central government’s intentions vis-à-vis the future of quality scientific and technological research in India.
The ruling disposition at the Centre could do well to understand that ‘scientific temper’ is not ideologically linked. ‘Kindling the scientific temper’ was a clarion call that echoed across the country soon after India won independence. It is needed at all times with research raising the bar with every step we take into the future.