The second March for Science was organised here on Saturday at the Elliot’s Beach, with over 200 persons participating. According to the global organisers’ marchforscience.com website, Chennai was among 230-odd cities that saw marches on April 14.
In Chennai, the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. march was organised by the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Breakthrough Science Society. Organisations like the Tamil Nadu Science Forum and Newton Science Club were also part of the organising committee.
At the end of the march, the participants signed a four-point petition, to be submitted to the Prime Minister through the Governor. The demands of the march remained the same as its predecessor, organised in the city on August 9 last year: allocation of at least 3% of the GDP to scientific and technological research (currently, 0.85%) and 10% towards education; develop scientific tempter; ensure the education system does not contradict scientific evidence; and enact policies based on scientific evidence.
At a public meeting after the march, organisers read out messages from geneticist M.S. Swaminathan and former Anna University Vice-Chancellor M. Anandakrishnan.
In his message, Mr. Anandakrishnan said that he was disappointed by recent trends in education and science in India. “The last budget of the Central government doles out lavish increases for space, biotechnology and renewable energy but very little for research in other scientific areas,” he said.