Nearly a 12 months after the Union authorities determined to chop the quantity of prizes yearly awarded by its science-affiliated Ministries, it has instituted the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) — 56 prizes to felicitate scientists, technologists and innovators. However, like the Padma awards, these awards will not have a cash part. Does eradicating cash cut back the status of awards? Shekhar Mande and Dinesh Sharma talk about this in a dialog moderated by Jacob Koshy. Edited excerpts:
The RVP subsumes the present Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been awarding since the Nineteen Sixties. However, it appears that evidently the awardees will not get prize cash. Will this not be a disappointment for scientists?
Shekhar Mande: The final motivation for a scientist is just not actually an award; it’s to make a considerable contribution to the world of information and (hope that) our discoveries or scientific contributions will someday seem in textbooks. Several scientists aspire that subsequent generations find out about their findings. Those who do good work routinely earn recognition, which may be annoying at instances. Having talked to a number of Nobel Laureates, I’ve heard that profitable the prize takes their time away from science. This is as a result of of higher involvement in public talking and making an attempt to get individuals motivated to [choose] careers in science. That is just not dangerous in itself; it’s, in reality, fascinating.
Nonetheless, the main motivation is just not an award or cash. There is the well-known story of Grigori Perelman, the Russian mathematician, who solved the Poincare conjecture (a math downside unsolved for over a century). He was awarded the Fields Medal (thought-about the Nobel Prize for arithmetic) however refused it (saying he’s ‘not interested in money or fame’). Awards and cash aren’t the solely motivations for scientists.
Dinesh Sharma: It is a welcome determination to have a brand new set of awards for scientists and engineers. In a rustic with such with a big science and know-how infrastructure, we want many extra science awards as a result of they act as incentives for researchers and scientists.
What is disappointing is that the RVP subsumes present awards, together with the SSB awards. And of course, there might be no cash part. But what makes an award actually prestigious? Is it solely the cash? If you take away cash [from the] SSB, does it lose status? Who confers the award issues. The SSB combines all these attributes and that’s what makes it necessary as a result of, as we all know, S.S. Bhatnagar was one of the founding fathers of Indian science. So, though it was given by CSIR, it had a pan-India attain and anyone might apply for it. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, who handed away final week, was awarded the SSB in 1961 when he was a younger scientist at IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute); he was not well-known at the time. And possibly that propelled him to do extra. So, all this brings status to this award. By abolishing the SSB awards or by diluting its character, you take away the heritage and status constructed over time.
Dr. Mande, you’re an SSB awardee and a former head of CSIR. Do we all know when cash started to be given together with the awards?
Shekhar Mande: The awards had been instituted in the Nineteen Sixties to recognise those that contributed not solely to Indian science however science basically. I’m unsure when cash was added to the prize. Today, many awards which have been instituted by non-public organisations give far more cash than the SSB awards, however I feel they’re but to achieve the similar degree of acceptability.
We know that Indian scientists usually are not the finest paid in the world. For a long time now, the pure sciences haven’t been in a position to entice increasingly of the brightest individuals. And regardless of a big scientific pool, India hasn’t been in a position to allocate even 1% of its GDP to analysis and growth (R&D), whereas technologically superior nations contribute near 2%. So, is there a sign being despatched that cash isn’t necessary to nurture Indian science? Moreover, the most prestigious sports activities, literature, and movie awards include cash.
Shekhar Mande: The new construction introduced tries to reward a bigger quantity of scientists and removes many of the difficulties we have now had with the SSB awards. Five awards got solely in seven disciplines and at most two individuals (per award). During my tenure (as Director General), we had been debating whether or not we must always add extra disciplines. That downside appears to have been addressed. (The Vigyan Yuva-SSB might be awarded to not less than 25 recipients spanning 13 disciplines.) Money in science is a matter that every one of us have been debating again and again. However, a considerable half of the 2% GDP in different international locations additionally comes from non-public organisations. Unfortunately in India, the contribution from non-public business to R&D is just not heavy. There are exceptions, however a big quantity of industries nonetheless don’t put in the cash that they need to (in R&D).
Dinesh Sharma: I feel it’s unfair to check scientists with sportsperson or actors as a result of scientists aren’t primarily motivated by cash and fame. However, being widespread is necessary for actors and sportspersons as they grow to be manufacturers and, after profitable medals, make more cash. China tried to do the similar factor (present cash incentives to scientists) just a few years in the past and it turned very controversial. In different international locations too, they began giving cash incentives to scientists who get revealed in top-ranking journals, equivalent to Nature, Science and Cell. It turned a race amongst scientists to publish a paper in a single of these prime journals quite than pursue their rational line of analysis. When the Infosys Prize was launched with ₹50,00,000 as prize cash, there was a concern that it’s going to undermine the [prestige of] SSB. But it didn’t achieve this. Although the Infosys Prize has gone to some implausible individuals, it hasn’t changed the model worth of the SSB, which is so sturdy, however is undermined by eradicating the cash part. The CSIR has consistently advanced these awards, beginning by awarding ₹10,000 (in the Nineteen Sixties) to ₹5 lakh (for the prize winners of 2022). Money brings status and incentive to the scientists to work. If doing away with cash was an unbiased determination of the CSIR council, that will have been acceptable, however it is a determination imposed by the authorities and clearly undermines the autonomy of scientific establishments. That’s a bigger challenge aside from the cash part.
How do you make careers in science extra engaging to the younger past mega prizes?
Dinesh Sharma: There is a disaster throughout disciplines and professions, not simply science, with notable exceptions. There was a time when individuals got here to journalism to serve society,. That was in the early years following Independence. Dr. Swaminathan certified to grow to be an IPS (Indian Police Service) officer, which he rejected as a result of he needed to work in science. Then he went on to do his PhD and got here again and joined the Agricultural Research Institute. People selected professions for the love of that topic or as a result of they needed to serve society since these had been the days of nation constructing. Dr. Swaminathan was moved by the Bengal famine in the Nineteen Forties. Such motivations could also be missing now.
But sure, there are a number of kids who wish to take up a profession in science. And for that they want an inexpensive wage. Scientists are human beings. With kids, there’s an urge to do one thing, obtain one thing, get revealed in a analysis journal, however additionally they need to have respectable cash to steer their life. Unless we give them a horny package deal, this disaster will proceed. We want function fashions. And we want good cash.
Shekhar Mande: I don’t suppose the romanticism for science has died down. I do know a number of younger individuals who secured the prime ranks in the Joint Entrance Examination (for slots at the Indian Institutes of Technology) however have come to areas equivalent to arithmetic or physics. Many scientists in our labs are amongst the brightest in the world. Some might go overseas, however they aren’t misplaced to the world of science. They have made some implausible contributions over the years. While many of the Central universities proceed to draw the finest to science, there’s a actual concern that many who select science in State universities have chosen it for lack of different choices.
Shekhar Mande is former Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; Dinesh Sharma is a science journalist and writer
