MUMBAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday expressed concern over the falling standards of scientific and technological research, and said the Government was evolving a strategy to rejuvenate science.

It included not only making a career in science an attractive proposition but also simplifying the visa regime and employment regulations in universities and government institutions to encourage a "reverse brain drain."

He was inaugurating the concluding session of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the National Academy of Sciences, India, (NASI) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, here.

Leading scientists and technologists, including the former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. H.N. Sethna, AEC Chairman Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director Dr. Srikumar Banerjee and IIT Director Dr. Ashok Misra were present.

The enormous potential of science and technology could be harnessed to address concerns such as food security, education and healthcare for all, and energy and environment security. Also poverty removal could be achieved in our lifetime, he said, noting that China and South Korea were leapfrogging ahead of India, using their mastery of science and technology.

"How can we achieve our development goal if we do not perform well in the field of basic sciences," Dr. Singh asked, pointing at the standard of research in the universities and even in the IITs.

What worried the Prime Minister more was the "divorce" between research and teaching, which was hampering the growth of the spirit of inquisitiveness and enquiry among students. The universities were unable to mobilise adequate financial and intellectual resources to support creative research and development efforts unlike in the past when they were at the centre of advanced research and attracted great talent.

The country needed teachers "who would inspire students by operating on the frontiers of knowledge." But a more fundamental challenge was to attract more and better students to science at the school and college levels.

Dr. Singh wanted the teaching of science and mathematics to be made interesting. "Our challenge is to encourage girl students to pursue a career in science teaching and research," he said, noting that they were doing very well in the subjects. But economic incentives and rewards were needed to make bright students opt for a career in science.

"A new era"

He hoped that the recent launch of three new institutions for advanced research would herald a new era in the development of modern science in the country. The Government was committed to increasing the annual expenditure on science and technology from less than one per cent of the gross domestic product at present to two per cent in the next five years.

The NASI was founded in 1930 by leading scientists, led by Prof. Meghnad Saha, to provide a national forum for the publication of research work.

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