The directive from the Ministry of Science and Technology to public-funded laboratories, asking them to seek funding support from private entities, reflects a lack of commitment on the part of the government towards public institutions. Cutting funds for researchers and public research, bodies while pushing them to seek collaboration with industry will compromise the goals and the very character of knowledge generation. It is bad policy to withdraw support for academic work at a time when more young people are aspiring to gain access to higher education. This discouragement can also be seen as a signal of the government’s intent to open up higher education to foreign institutions. Allowing education to be traded as a market commodity will go against the state’s constitutional obligations towards the weaker sections.
Firoz Ahmad,
Delhi
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the backbone of scientific and technological research in India. (“ >Ideology over science ,” Oct.30) Despite not being paid as much as their peers in the private sector, researchers work hard, driven only by a passion for science. However, it seems their efforts are not found worthy enough of appreciaton by the government. The government needs to be reminded that science is vital for growth of any country.
Rakhi,
Meerut
