Indian Science: Steps to Excellence

Abstract

The News of the Week story “India's vision: From scientific pipsqueak to powerhouse” (P. Bagla, 1 October 2010, p. [23][1]) highlights a number of steps that India could undertake to increase its scientific output to a level on par with developed countries. We disagree with the implication that the Indian government is not bolstering scientific research. In addition to luring excellent nonresident Indian scientists back to the country, the government has recently opened several high-quality research institutions (such as the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research) and established additional campuses of the Indian Institutes of Technology. The number of Ph.D. and postdoctoral fellowships has doubled over the past 5 years ([ 1 ][2]–[ 3 ][3]). However, Bagla overlooked two important explanations of India's underachievement. First, the reservation system, based on the caste system, downgrades the importance of merit and quality when it comes to the appointment and promotion of faculty members. Moreover, tenured faculty positions in Indian universities are safe until retirement irrespective of research output. The disconnect between achievement and advancement curbs students' enthusiasm for the research career and leads many of the best scientists to pursue opportunities in western countries. Second, other than the central institutions of excellence, most Indian universities have not traditionally focused on research but rather on producing graduates for industry. The brightest students are attracted to professional courses leading to the lucrative job market, further shrinking the student base needed for basic science research. To revolutionize science in India, the reservation-based selection process of students and faculty should be abolished, and scientists should be promoted and given salary incentives based on their research quality. Without these initiatives, although it may be possible to meet the target of 30,000 science Ph.D.'s per year by 2025, the quality of student work and that of India's overall research effort will still be lacking. 1. [↵][4] University Grant commission, “Annual Report 2005–2006” (Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi, 110-002, India), p. 95; [www.ugc.ac.in/pub/annualreport/annualreport_0506.pdf][5]. 2. 1. C. Chauhan , “Researchers to get money equal to IAS entrants,” Hindustan Times, 18 August 2009. 3. [↵][6] Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, “Office memorandum A.20020/11/97-IFD” (31 March 2010); . [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.330.6000.23-a [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [5]: http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/annualreport/annualreport_0506.pdf [6]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text"