Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has emphasised the need to change the definition of the impact factor in science research.
He was inaugurating a two-day national-level conference with the theme, “Innovations of Bharat in science, technology and entrepreneurship”, organised jointly by Prajna Pravah and KLE Technological University (KLETU) here on Thursday. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the impact factor of a research should be based on the impact the research had made on the lives of people or on the basis of its usefulness in solving the problems of society and not on the number of journals it had appeared in or been appreciated. “Whichever field of science it might be, the approach should be people-centric. We need to take inspiration from our glorious past and move forward in the present to regain the past glory,” he said.
Referring to advancements in the field of science and technology made by Indian scientists, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that India had become number one in giving accurate warning of tsunamis and had been ranked fourth in the world for accuracy in weather forecast.
The Minister said that at present around 40 million farmers were benefiting by weather forecast they were receiving individually on their cellphones and in the next couple of years, 93 million farmers will be covered. “A study carried out in 2014-15 covering 10 million farmers had revealed that the service had contributed ₹ 50,000 crore to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Now, with the facility reaching over 40 million farmers, the contribution to GDP has increased manifolds,” he said.
Listing out the facilities created for carrying out research and advancements made in various spheres of science and technology, clean energy and related fields, the Union Minister appealed to young scientists and entrepreneurs to make use of their scientific acumen and the infrastructure created by the State to contribute towards nation building.
Member of Parliament Pralhad Joshi emphasised the need to take the outcome of researches in laboratories to the people.
