EXPERTSPEAK
Focus on research will bring true progress
P. Rama Rao, chairman, Core Group for Automotive Research, Government of India. Photo: M. Periasamy
WHEN IT comes to boosting morale, nothing works like a doctoral degree. India will hold her head high and blossom into a superpower when more students secure doctoral degrees in universities and colleges all over the country.
"Research should be on top of our agenda. We must strive to become the largest producer of Ph.Ds because education and research hold the key to India's superpower status," said the chairman, Core Group for Automotive Research, Government of India, P. Rama Rao.
Highlighting this theme while addressing students at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Deemed University in Coimbatore, Prof. Rao said that higher education in India had languished until Independence. After that there had been steady growth.
Still, only 6.5 per cent of those in the age group of 18 to 24 years were in the higher education system. Over 93 per cent of youngsters in the eligible age group did not study at a college or university.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karnataka accounted for a major share of undergraduate engineering admissions.
"We can't say India has achieved nothing. Neither can we glorify what India has achieved," he said, displaying a rough evaluation of the achievements of the country after Independence.
Basic science: Very good
Agriculture: Very good
Strategic fields (Space, atomic energy, defence): Very good
Scientific services: Medium
Industrial research and development: Feeble
Societal science: Marginal
Asymmetry
After the country had decided on a scientific policy, a framework of institutions had come into being and accounted for the advances in areas such as electronics, agriculture and biotechnology.
Indians rose to the challenge when faced with technological challenges, but there was often much to be done when it came to commercial use and economic development.
"During British rule, scientific institutions served a utilitarian purpose and after Independence they have withered, with no institution to train people properly. Even in technological achievement, there is asymmetry," he said, pointing out the anomalies in the availability of basic facilities such as electricity, telephones and Internet.
Prof. Rao observed that private industries had begun to invest in research, especially in areas such as software, pharmaceuticals and automotives.
It would soon be possible to correct technology disparities.
A.A.Michael Raj
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