NKC wants a foundation to fetch Prize

It recommends setting up of NSSF for research work that can win a Nobel for an Indian, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Published on: Jan 14, 2007, 20:54:00 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The National Knowledge Commission has recommended setting up of a National Science and Social Science Foundation (NSSF) for producing research work that can fetch a Nobel Prize for an Indian scientist.

The Commission, in its Report to the Nation 2006, has identified four key areas of concern for the Indian science. They are — lack of interaction, lack of long-term vision, lack of differential remuneration and lack of scientific methods.

"Over the years, inspite of continuing government support, both the quality and quantity of research output from India has been on the decline," the commission said in its Report to the Nation released on Friday.

NKC chairperson Sam Pitroda told HT that quality of Indian scientists in 1950s and 1960s has faded and quality of research in India is not very high. "I think we are following the west. Our scientists should look at things differently so that we have innovations that can serve the world," he said.

To overcome such hurdles, the NKC has recommended that Rs 1,250 crore initiative - that will suggest policy initiatives to develop scientific temper, science and technology - are used for betterment of Indians and to look into new knowledge areas. A similar proposal has already been submitted by the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

The foundation, to be first of its kind in the world, should take up 200 to 400 long standing projects with the potential of making India as a leader. "We should expect at least 20 per cent success rate," the report said. In addition to this, the NKC has suggested that the foundation should work towards having at least three to four Indian scientists or social scientists produce work in six years worthy of a Nobel Prize.

As for now, NKC will start consultations for building consensus on its recommendations. "The recommendations will be discussed with the stakeholders," he said. Also, NKC has lined up new technologies, environment, public health, gender, legal access issues, basic access to clean water and food, teacher training and innovation at grass roots level, as areas for future recommendations.

Email Chetan Chauhan: chetan @hindustantimes.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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