Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar has emphasised the need to take nation-building scientific technologies to the masses through “people’s languages” enabling effective dissemination and value addition.
“It is important to develop advanced technologies for nation building, and to put India on global technological map it important to use English. But it is more important to take technologies to the masses through people’s language, using Hindi and other regional languages and dialects to receive value additions,” Mr. Kakodkar said while addressing a conference on ‘Creating Awareness and Dissemination of Science through Hindi’, at BARC on Thursday.
Citing examples of technologies like ‘Nisargruna’ developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for converting garbage into energy and manure, Mr. Kakodkar said, “this technology has caught up with several parts of the country and villagers have suggested few additional ideas to improve it.”
Similarly, in the case of water purifier technology, villagers have made changes for value addition in their places where there is no running water, Mr. Kakodkar said.
Also, mutant seeds developed by BARC were efficiently marketed by Confederation of Indian Farmers, but all this was possible only due to use of local languages,” he said.
“Once they understand the technology, they propagate it in their own style,” the eminent scientist said in Hindi.
Speaking on the occasion, eminent astrophysicist Dr Jayant V Narlikar said, “Science is advancing very fast and it is important to tell the people what are the good and bad sides of those advancement.
“For any community decision on technologies, and to understand their pros and cons they need to be have the knowledge through the medium of local languages which they are familiar with,” he said.
“Computers have already has taken a leading role in reaching people everywhere to use technologies like that of in farming but more needs to be done as the new generation are getting opportunities to use computer more than their parents in the interior parts of the country, Mr. Narlikar said.
Now computer scientists have given us an opportunity to use languages but lot of research has to go in to improve the use of language through computers on a large scale by the masses, he added.
“Scientists have social responsibilities and I am glad that Department of Atomic Energy is taking keen interest in spreading science through Hindi,” he said.
Also, DAE staff who excelled in creating awareness and spreading science through Hindi within the agency and the country were also facilitated by Mr. Kakodkar on the occasion.
