Asserting that Indian scientific laboratories had state-of-the-art facilities and were not inferior to any laboratory in the world, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan has called upon scientists to be more focussed on ‘science for the benefit of the people.’
Talking to reporters after inaugurating additive manufacturing 3D printer unit and unveiling the handheld soil testing kit for farmers, developed at the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) here on Saturday, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that science should be for the benefit of the people and scientists should work towards achieving the objective.
In the last two years, the ministry was trying to change the overall perception and outlook of the scientists in CSIR and other departments and has been asking them to be more people-centric, he said. “Before deciding what they wanted to do, the scientists should assess the problems of the people and try to solve them through science. This is the vision of the Prime Minister,” he said.
Commending CSIR laboratories for the wonderful performance all these years, Mr. Vardhan, citing a recent international study, said India has emerged second after China in the world in terms of scientific research and exhorted the scientists to ensure that their findings and innovations were translated into action and converted into benefits for the people.
He said the cost-effective handheld soil testing kits for the farmers would go a long way in revolutionising the agriculture sector and improve the lifestyle of the farming community. The kit, which would be made available to the farmers for a few hundred rupees, would help them obtain the results of soil tests in a few minutes with the help of an app compared to the existing waiting time of 15 days, he said. “This will help the farmers in a big way,” he said.
Lots of good things were happening at CSIR-CECRI and most of the things done here actually impacted the day-to-day lives of the common man and that was the beauty of it, he said.
He said India had scientific collaborations with more than 80 countries in the world and powerful collaborations with 44 countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Israel on very important research subjects.
In Nano technology, India has emerged number three in the world and in space, ISRO has recently created a world record by sending more than 100 satellites in one go, he said. Some of the countries which had negative impression on India’s space programme had sent more than 90 of their satellites using Indian launch vehicles and this was the very positive development, Mr. Vardhan said.
