The no-show of the Indian Science Congress this year is unprecedented, but not surprising. The annual event, going back more than a hundred years, has suffered a serious loss of reputation in recent years. Organised by a private society called the Indian Science Congress Association, but funded by the government, it was meant to showcase the best of Indian science, popularise it and inculcate a scientific temper among students and the general public. The forum served its purpose admirably through most of this period, attracting the who’s who of India’s scientific community, and serving as a stage for engaging scientific discussions between scientists, university and college teachers, and students.
But the decay in the last couple of decades has been unmistakable. Most of the country’s respected scientists now avoid the event. Leading research institutions and laboratories have only a token presence, if at all. And there is little discussion on contemporary issues of science. In recent years, the event has attracted more attention for the controversies it has generated than for hosting any meaningful scientific debate. The stage had been hijacked by relative nobodies with scant credentials in science. The scientific community was unhappy, the government was unhappy, and it seemed to be a really bad advertisement for Indian science. Though a direct fall-out of the government withholding its Rs 5 crore funding, the current predicament of the Indian Science Congress Association is, therefore, largely of its own making. But disbanding the event, as some suggest, is in no one’s interest. The Science Congress has a useful role to play, more so in these times when disinformation and misinformation are so widely prevalent. It is the only forum of its kind that brings people even in small towns and cities face-to-face with multi-disciplinary science, and allows interaction between the scientific community and others. It can play an important role in expanding the research base, and build capacities within universities and colleges, which is also the aim of the government’s new initiative, the setting up of the National Research Foundation.
The Science Congress is not beyond repair. A more careful scrutiny of papers, presentations and speakers, stricter adherence to relevant topics in discussions, and regular engagement with leading scientists and research institutions can be the first few steps towards reestablishing trust. In the last few years, the government has also begun organising the India International Science Festival, which many see as a counter to the Science Congress. But one need not be cancelled for the other to thrive. Let this setback to the Science Congress be temporary, let it be a wake-up call for reform.
