January 3, 2008
Visakhapatnam

“I should begin by wishing you all a very happy new year. I am also very happy that this year the theme for the 95th Indian Science Congress is “Knowledge Based Society Using Environmentally Sustainable Science And Technology.” It is appropriate that such a theme should be discussed at this venue, along this beautiful scenic coastline. The beauty of the Coromandel Coast, of the Eastern Ghats and of the Andhra University campus, is a reminder of the richness of our natural heritage. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to protect, preserve and rejuvenate this heritage even as we seek accelerated social and economic development.

Let me begin by paying tribute to the contribution of the Andhra people and, in particular, the Andhra University to modern science in India. The greatest scientist of the 20th Century, Dr C V Raman, was closely associated with this great University. Andhra University had also had the distinction of being home to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the great philosopher, Statesman and our former President. I take this opportunity to also pay tribute to one of the Andhra University’s more distinguished alumni, Professor C R Rao, a great mathematician and statistician. Professor Rao has inspired several generations of students at Andhra University to study statistics, and many of them have earned international recognition for their work.

Your theme at this Congress, of a “knowledge-based” approach to the pursuit of environmentally sustainable development, draws attention to the role of applied research based on observed facts. The recent global concern about climate change and global warming is in fact based on painstaking statistical work. When this concern was first flagged nearly two decades ago it did not elicit as much global public attention because it’s statistical basis was still weak. At that time much of the ground, much of the argument was based on theoretical models. That, of course, is how science moves forward.

Let me, therefore, take this opportunity on this campus to emphasise the importance of collecting relevant data, especially with regard to climate change. For example we need data on what is happening to the Himalayan glaciers and not just on what is happening on our side of the border but to the system as a whole. I believe we must improve the quality of data we collect and also improve the quality of analysis of the available data.

We have adopted a pro-active and pragmatic approach to the problems of environmental degradation. Our approach is based on our understanding that as our economy grows and modernizes, we must pay increasing attention to the environmental impact of the technological choices we make, the investment choices we make and the consumption choices we make as individuals and as a nation.

I do sincerely believe that the world cannot walk down the path of environmentally harmful development that developed industrial economies have pursued thus far. They undoubtedly bear the greatest responsibility for what has happened and must also bear therefore the greatest responsibility for correcting damage.

But we too have to take action. We cannot replicate the western model of wasteful consumption and environmentally harmful industrialization. We need an alternative approach more mindful of our resource endowments, and also of the need to avoid damage to our environment. Mahatma Gandhi’s famous dictum that our planet has enough to cater to all our needs but not enough to cater to our greed must never be lost sight of.

Climate change poses a great and a new challenge to our developmental prospects and to the livelihood of our people, particularly those living on the edges of subsistence. We need a global response, a national response and a local response. An effective global response has to grapple with issues of sustainability, issues of equity and thirdly issues of efficiency. Sustainability involves assessment of safe levels of emission of CO2 and other harmful substances for the globe as a whole. Equity involves consideration of issues relating to responsibilities of various countries for control of emissions or in other words their legitimate share of the permissible emission levels. Efficiency involves examination of alternative techniques and policies which will yield the desired outcome at least possible cost. Our Research and Development community has therefore to be revitalized to make an appropriate contribution to the ongoing global debate on all these three issues I have highlighted. I have asked the Planning Commission to work on this issue and come up with alternative options open to us.

The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change is engaged in developing India’s response to the challenge. I believe our response must be pro-active and based on our finding feasible and practical solutions to the real and potential threats we face.

An expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr R Chidambaram has come forward with a research agenda to study the impact of climate change in India. We will invest in and strengthen the infrastructure required to develop our scientific capabilities in this new area. We are in the process of identifying a center of national excellence on climate change and you heard just now my colleague Kapil Sibal said that that process has been completed.

At the last G-8 meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, I said India is ready to accept the obligation that our per capita emissions of CO2 will never exceed the per capita emissions of advanced developed countries. This should incentivise developed countries to achieve quick reductions in their per capita emissions, to limit the growth of emissions from developing countries. Their success will generate technologies which will help the entire human kind and the developing countries to limit their own emissions as well.

How do we pursue higher rates of income growth while being mindful of our natural resource constraints and concern for the environment? This is a scientific challenge as much as it is a challenge for our economic policy planners. It is a challenge for world science and a special one for Indian science. We must draw on modern science and technology, and also tap into our traditional knowledge base, to develop environment-friendly and efficient technologies, technologies that are affordable and also scalable.

There are at least five major areas in which we need such application of knowledge indeed on a war-footing. These are:

(a) Food production and utilization and conservation of our scarce water resources;

(b) Energy generation and utilization;

(c) Manufacturing technologies;

(d) Mass transportation systems

(e) Building and construction technology

Successful farming is necessarily knowledge-based. But we must constantly update our knowledge and invest in new and appropriate technologies that renew our natural heritage. The “Green Revolution” was one such knowledge-based intervention that boosted our output and incomes and our country will be eternally grateful to our agricultural scientists lead by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan for the contribution that they have made to ushering in the First Green revolution in our country. But as Dr. Swaminathan himself has emphasized repeatedly we need a Second Green Revolution indeed an evergreen revolution. This was also the subject of your last Science Congress.

We need new technologies which will raise yields, and simultaneously prevent the degradation of scarce land and water resources and in this process we must ensure that the productivity of our small and marginal farmers does increase substantially. We need to pay special attention to our women farmers as Prof. Swaminathan has emphasized repeatedly.

To these immediate challenges are added the longer-term challenge of climate change and the effect it may have on agricultural production and agricultural productivity. We must respond by undertaking a major revitalization of research in our agricultural universities to give it a much more strategic thrust.

Water utilization and conservation require both appropriate economic policies and the application of affordable technologies. The National Water Mission must be made to serve these twin objectives. We are committed to investing in water saving technologies and to the scientific management of our water resources. To this must be added agricultural research aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity in conditions of moisture stress.

The most important area for the application of knowledge for sustainable development is energy conservation and the development of alternative renewable energy sources. We have to evolve a development path which reduces energy intensity of our economy over time and promotes simultaneously the use of energy efficient technologies such as clean coal technologies. This too is being given high priority by our Government.

I would like to see a concerted effort being made in the development of solar energy by our scientific, technological and business communities. In the longer run, atomic energy can also make an important contribution to energy security for our country. It is this perspective which has led us to seek the removal of restrictive regimes which prevent India from participation in international trade in civilian nuclear materials, equipment and technologies.

Our manufacturing sector is not yet very efficient in the utilization of natural resources, especially land and power. Sustainable development requires more efficient utilization of these resources by modern industry. We need science-based solutions that are also commercially viable.

Part of the solution to the energy problem is the promotion of mass public transport. The demand for private transportation is shooting up because of the lack of adequate public transport. We need environment-friendly public transport solutions that are affordable by all. I regret to note that many of our roads in urban areas provide no space for pedestrians or bicycle riders. This must change.

Traditional building technologies were largely environment-friendly. Over the years a great deal of what is called modern building technology is environmentally ill-suited and unsustainable. This poses a technological challenge which must be squarely addressed. We need locally relevant all-weather building technologies and construction technologies and methodologies that can reduce our growing dependence on air-conditioning. We have to evolve patterns of urbanization which minimize environmental hazards such as noise pollution. Science and Technology must be harnessed in full measure to convert the growing accumulation of urban wastes into generation of wealth for our nation.

Such are the issues that our science and technology community must grapple with in applying modern knowledge systems to dealing with the problems of environmentally sustainable development.

At last year’s Science Congress, and the year before that, I had expressed my serious concern about the state of science teaching and research in India. We must increase the enrolment of students in basic sciences in our schools and in our colleges. This matter has been repeatedly discussed at meetings of the Science Advisory Council. I believe this deserves the highest priority of our educationists and of our scientists.

Our Government is committed to investing more, much more, in education, especially science education. The Eleventh Five Year Plan is in fact a National Education Plan. The Plan allocation for education has been stepped up from 7.7% of gross budgetary support for the Plan, in the 10th Plan, to over 19% in the 11th Plan. In nominal terms there is going to be a five-fold increase in spending on education in the 11th plan. This is an unprecedented increase in financial support for education in India.

We are planning to fund thirty new Central Universities, five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, and twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology.

We are also launching a Mission on Vocational Education and Skill Development through which we will open 1600 new Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new Skill Development Centres.

We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training – which is a four-time increase from today’s level. Detailed plan for implementing these proposals will be spelt out in the next six months.

To enlarge the pool of scientific manpower, and foster research in the sciences, a programme entitled “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE), is being launched. Under this programme, over the next 5 years, one million school students will be given science innovation scholarships of Rs. 5,000 each. The Plan will also support Scholarships for Higher Education (SHE), providing 10,000 scholarships per year of Rs. One Lakh, to attract talented students to enroll in B.Sc. and M.Sc. courses.

Our strategy for the promotion of science education in the 11th Plan will aim at (a) expanding and strengthening the Science & Technology base in our Universities, and (b) promote excellence through competitively secured funding at centers for advanced research. In addition, discipline-specific education programmes will be launched in strategic sectors like nuclear sciences and space sciences to capture talent at the “plus-two” stage itself.

All this marks a quantum leap in the infrastructure available for good quality teaching and research. At the last Science Congress I gave you my assurance that we are willing to increase the annual expenditure on science and technology from less than 1% of our GDP to 2% of our GDP in the next five years. That assurance stands.

We must make science a preferred discipline of study for our students. We must attract the best and the brightest young people to a career in science. We need, I believe, both a qualitative improvement and a quantitative expansion in the pool of science students in India. This means we will also need more teachers. We will need an army of teachers, especially in the basic sciences and in the field of mathematics. Shortage of good teachers is an immediate challenge.

I urge our academic community to come forward with innovative ideas to help us overcome and meet this challenge effectively. Tried and tested methods will not suffice. We need fresh creative thinking. Out-of-the-box solutions. The academic community too must be willing to think creatively.

The Focus Areas listed for this Congress, covering the entire gamut of modern science, do include the five areas I have mentioned earlier. I would suggest that a Monitoring Group be constituted for each of these areas to see what new ideas this Congress has thrown up in each in each of these fields. It should be the endeavour of the Indian Science Congress to shape the agenda of research within the wider scientific community in our country.

I urge our science and technology community, of teachers and researchers, to show us the way ahead. We need a quantum jump in science education and research. This agenda can no longer wait. I am aware that we need policy reform, we need institutional reform, we need organizational reform and, above all, we need more investment in science education and research.

We cannot afford to miss the bus nor can we afford to delay matters further. The time has come for action, and I assure you of my highest personal commitment to such action. I seek your guidance and support. Let us work together and transform science education and research in India for the good and the well being of the people of this great country. Years ago Sir Winston Churchill once said “The empires of the future are going to be the empires of the mind” and we live in an age where human knowledge, particularly scientific and technological knowledge, is expanding at an unprecedented pace and in that sort of world, access to knowledge has become the most important determinant of the power and wealth of nations. India has to catch up. We cannot afford to miss the bus as I said and in this great national adventure of enterprise, of creativity our science and technology community has to play a glorious role. I invite you to join the Government in carving out the new agenda of science education and research in our country. I wish your deliberations all success”.