Remember Ramanujan?

Ninety is a hoary number, one presumably that represents a great maturing and development. Yet, a rather pessimistic mood marked the 90th Indian Science Conference which has just ended at Bangalore. And while President Kalam could still bring his outer space enthusiasm to the proceedings, Prime Minister Vajpayee preferred to strike a more down-to-earth note. He spoke about the bureaucratisation and lack of opportunity in our labs and research establishments, which has resulted in choking young talent 8212; pushing it out of the country or into other sectors.

This, unfortunately, is not new. It has been with us for as many years as we have had a national science conference, and possibly earlier. One need just recall that sad figure, Srinivasa Ramanujan, today recognised as one of the great mathematical genuises of our age. It required another great scientist, British-born geneticist and philosopher J.B.S. Haldane, who had adopted this country as his own, to encapsulate this tragedy when he observed over four decades ago, 8216;Today, in India, Ramanujan could not get even a lectureship in a rural college because he had no degree. Much less could he get a post through the UPSC. This fact is a disgrace to India. I am aware that he was offered a chair in India after becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society. But it is scandalous that India8217;s great men should have to wait for recognition.8217;

The situation, unfortunately, is much the same in this day and age 8212; and possibly worse thanks to politicians in power who even as they extol the scientific temper, promote astrological mumbo-jumbo as high science and claim that India practiced rocket science in the year dot. The reality, however, is that very little is happening in terms of science and technology in this country. According to the Human Development Report, 2002, India could claim only 1 patent per million residents in 1998. More telling is this figure: only 0.6 per cent of GNP goes into research and development. Indeed, apart from the success story of computer software, there is very little to celebrate, even as we perceive ourselves as a superpower-in-the-making.