The Hindu Business Line : Vajpayee calls for reversing brain drain, cutting red tape

THE 90th Indian Science Congress opened here today with the Prime Minister calling for reversing the brain drain and ridding science pools of red-tapism.

Scientists should have a say in policy making so that science and technology will play a key role in taking the GDP growth rate to 8 per cent and improving the rural economy, Mr A.B. Vajpayee told the 6,000-strong congregation that is here for the five-day extravaganza.

He also released the Science & Technology Policy 2003, which promises a proactive and holistic approach to science and technology.

Expressing concern over the flight of talent out of the country as well as internally, from S&T establishments to non-scientific and private sector jobs, Mr Vajpayee suggested that flexible and pragmatic schemes should be framed to lure the vast scientific diaspora back to support key research areas. The quality of scientific education should be raised by taking corrective measures in the system.

He appealed to the private industrial sector to invest more in indigenous R&D and tie up with Government labs and IITs to bring out global brands of Indian technology. In recent years, S&T units were also changing with times and an example of this was the CSIR getting its record 100th US patent during 2002.

Mr Vajpayee raised six other issues of concern in making S&T relevant to society and the economy: Bridging the gap between science and policy-making; poor linkages between R&D units and industry; red-tapism in R&D units and promotion of traditional technologies.

The ultimate aim of science should be poverty alleviation, reducing malnutrition and improved healthcare for all. As in sports, scientists should "aim higher and achieve big things"; they should work towards improving farm productivity, medicinal plants, healthcare, waste reduction, disaster prevention, IT, space and biotechnology, he said.

The Union HRD and S&T Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, called on Indian scientists to develop sustainable technologies that solve common man's problems - such as low cost, natural drugs, renewable energy or affordable technologies like the Simputer.

Over the next four days, the congress will cover six themes on frontier science and cutting edge technology - energy, medicine, IT, food security, space and advanced materials. A mega expo, Pride of India, showcases the best technologies from the Indian industry including TVS, DRDO, NAL, BEL, HAL, ISRO and Reva.

ISC 2003, which returns to Bangalore after 13 years, is being hosted at the sprawling Jnana Bharati campus by ISRO and Bangalore University, which claims to be the largest Indian university with 400 affiliated colleges and over 4 lakh students.

The next ISC will be held in Haryana.

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