MUMBAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has criticised the country’s universities and IITs for not creating an environment conducive to research.
Singh articulated his views on Friday while addressing an event at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the National Academy of Sciences. “There is serious concern about the decline in standards of research in universities and IITs,” he said.
Singh said there is an acute need to rekindle interest in science and technology to keep India at the forefront of research.
He wanted educational institutions to encourage a ‘reverse brain drain’. “We must find easier ways to enable researchers in India to work with their counterparts elsewhere in the world,” he said. “Equally, we must try and attract the brightest, especially from within the Indian diaspora, to work in India.”
Later, during his visit to IIT-Bombay at Powai, the PM highlighted the disconnection between research and science education.
“Research has been concentrated in specialised institutes,” he said.
“The university system is unable to mobilise adequate financial and intellectual resources to support creative research and development efforts.”
The PM’s IIT address touched upon larger issues such as the role of educators. “Teaching of science and mathematics in our schools and colleges ought to be made interesting,” he said. “More girls should be encouraged to pursue a career in research and in teaching science.”
Citing examples of the advances in science made by newly industrialised nations such as China and South Korea, Singh underscored the rapid privatisation of research in developed economies.
