The UPA government’s pet scheme of creating special economic zones (SEZ) all over the country came under sharp attack from Dr R Ramamurthi, general president of the 95th Indian Science Congress in the presence of the scheme’s chief promoter — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“What are the implications of SEZs in fertile regions where ecological foundation of agri-horticulture are still in good shape? If India loses all its fertile regions for residences and industrial units where will our need of food come from?”  Dr Ramamurthi said, delivering the presidential address at the 95th session of the Indian Science Congress here.  Besides Dr Singh, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and union science minister Kapil Sibal were among the dignitaries seating on the dais.

One of Dr Ramamurthi’s former colleagues and the father of the Green Revolution Dr M S Swaminathan too has questioned the basic philosophy behind the SEZ after the bloody battles at Nandigram in West Bengal.

“Such incidents (like Nandigram) only showed lack of foresight and SEZs were only meant for monetary gains rather than sustaining an ecological balance,” Dr Swaminathan had stated. Union commerce ministry has so far received 404 proposals for SEZs out of which 232 have been sanctioned by the union commerce ministry’s board of approval.

Tthink out of the box: PM
Visakhapatnam, DHNS: Expressing his concerns on lack of enough students in basic sciences, Dr Singh on Thursday asked the scientists to think “out of the box solutions” to end the crisis.

“The tried and tested methods will not suffice. We need creative thinking and out of the box solutions. We need a quantum jump in science education and research,” Dr Singh said at the 95th session of the Indian Science Congress here. Access to knowledge, Dr Singh said, had become a principal determinant of the power and wealth of the nations.