SPEECHES / STATEMENTS 

PM’s address at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for advance Scientific Research

December 3, 2008, Bangalore, Karnataka

“Long ago Sir Winston Churchill said ‘Empires of future are going to be the empires of mind’. Whenever I visit Bangalore I have a feeling of elation. India has captivated the attention of the world because of its strides in various fields. It is necessary to build institutes of excellence.

I salute all those great people who have contributed for the growth and development of the country. Because of the efforts of many people Bangalore and Karnataka has become a national hub of science and technological activity.

What we need at present is to strengthen the infrastructure of science and technology. I salute Prof CNR Rao for having contributed to the scientific development.

I am a politician by accident. Teaching has been my first love. My days at the University as a teacher has been the most enjoyable part of my life. Hence whenever I get opportunities to visit Universities and institutes of learning, I do so with great joy. They fill me with a sense of pride and happiness and I feel proud at the achievements.

I am delighted to be here today at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research (JNCASR). The Centre was established in 1989 to commemorate Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. It is befitting that a centre devoted to research in frontier sciences should be named after a visionary who had great dreams for India’s science and technology development.

Over the past decade, the Centre has established itself as a centre of growing importance in areas relating to the new material science, biology and fluid mechanics. I know that the Centre prides itself on its strong inter-disciplinary approach to research. And I do believe it is the way of future. This is an age of holistic approach to knowledge. JNCASR has shown what could be achieved by this approach. The attempt is to create a stimulating environment that promotes the cross pollination of ideas arising out of continuous informal and formal interaction among researchers of completely different backgrounds.

It is well known that if India is to be one of the top ranking scientific nations in the world and we must be, we need a huge step up in investment in basic sciences. This is why the Government of India has set up five new Indian Institutes of Science, Education and Research. Six new Indian Institutes of Technology have already started functioning. 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology and 10 new National Institutes of Technology are also proposed to be set up. We have set up an institute for space technology and a second campus of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is being established in Hyderabad.

We hope that these Institutes will eventually become nerve centres of scientific creativity and endeavour and feed into technological capabilities and then possibilities to India’s social and economic development.

I have spoken before about the decline in the quality of research carried out in our institutions. We need, therefore, to revitalize our universities and research institutions. We have world class institutes of technology. There is no reason why we cannot achieve the same degree of excellence when it comes to basic science and research.

While establishing new research centers, we have to ensure that they run autonomously using modern management styles. Flexibility and not rigidity and not excessive bureaucratisation should be the guiding philosophy for managing these new temples of learning.

Our Government has committed itself to doubling the financial allocations for science and technology from 1% of GDP to 2%. What we need today is a blueprint for the effective and creative utilization of these funds. A blueprint for the transformation of Indian science. A blueprint for making basic sciences and mathematics the preferred discipline of our school going and college going children.

We propose to establish a National Science and Engineering Research Board on the lines of the National Science Foundation in the US. It will be set up as an autonomous body to promote basic research in science and engineering. It will provide unfettered financial assistance to researchers, academic institutions, research laboratories and industrial concerns.

In recent years, many of our brilliant engineers who had migrated to the west are coming back. They want to be a part of India’s growth story. We should be able to create the same conducive environment that would similarly attract our scientists working abroad to return to their motherland. I am confident that institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research can show the way forward in that direction.

A notable activity of the Nehru Centre is located in the Education Technology Unit, which was established more than ten years ago. It aims to improve science education in schools and colleges by developing teaching materials for use by both teachers and students.

This is an area of critical importance given the disturbing and declining interest among today’s youth in pursuing science as a career. The teaching of science must be and has to be so designed as to fire the curiosity and imagination of our youth. We must inculcate in our talented students a love for science and mathematics.

I am happy today to have declared the International Centre of Material Science and the C.N.R. Rao Hall of Science open.

My congratulations to all those scientists, Researchers, Engineers associated with this most creative venture of India’s scientific life.

I cannot think of a better place to locate this Centre than in India’s own Silicon Valley. I am happy that the Centre has a mandate of providing global research opportunities and of supporting international exchange programmes. I hope that this international centre will develop into a world class facility in the years to come.

I am happy to know that the C.N.R Hall of Science has been built partly from the personal savings of Professor and Mrs. C.N.R. Rao and from donations from industry and others.

I sincerely hope that other people with wealth will make up mind to use part of their wealth for promotion science and research, particularly research.

I compliment Professor C.N.R. Rao for his outstanding contributions not only to scientific research in his chosen field but also to the development of Indian science. I commend him for the many initiatives he has taken as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council. The country needs not just high calibre scientists but men of vision and courage and determination and burning fire to transform our economy, polity and society. We all need men who are wise administrators and strong institution builders. Professor Rao is one such person.

I wish to thank Professor C.N.R. Rao and Professor M.R.S. Rao for inviting me here today in these pristine surroundings and on this historic occasion. I am happy to have been associated with an institution that has a great future.

The Moon mission has filled the nation with pride and has proved that our scientists are second to none in creativity. I call upon all researchers, faculty and students associated with the Institute and the Centre to dedicate themselves to building a top class research center not only in India but in the world as a whole.

With these words I once again express my joy on this occasion. May your path be blessed. God bless you.”