MHA asks science departments to go easy on conferring awards

The Union home ministry has asked eight science and health departments to drastically cut down on the number of awards they confer and institute “new awards with high stature” including a special Nobel Prize like award (Vigyan Ratna) that would be open to all scientific disciplines.

The Department of Science and Technology, which currently gives away more than 200 awards has been advised to continue with only four national awards whereas the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will retain the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, but have to discontinue six other awards.

The Department of Health Research will have to give up 34 of 37 awards it confers and convert another one into a research grant.

The departments have been asked to take “necessary actions” within ten days at a review meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on September 16 before another round of review happens at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Bhalla suggested institution of one Nobel Prize like award (Vigyan Ratna) for scientists in consultation with the Principal Scientific Advisor to Government. This award may be open to all science disciplines.

He stressed that the number of awards and awardees should be very restrictive and the selection process must be transparent to select really deserving candidates.

The suggestion for the Department of Health and Family Welfare is to rationalise the number of awards it gives to the nurses and discontinue the Kayakalp award (given to health facilities for high standards of sanitation and hygiene) and three other prizes instituted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. At the moment 51 Florence Nightingale awards are given away to nurses.

The three national awards given by the National Medical Council are suspended for now. The Department of Health and Family Welfare has been asked to recast these awards, including the BC Roy award (named after former West Bengal CM, who was a doctor of high caliber) given to doctors and institute a new award of very high stature.

Also on the chopping block are two ICMR awards for biomedical research named after BR Ambedkar and Subhash Mukherjee, who in the 1970s pioneered in-vitro fertilisation in India independently just 67 days after the world’s first test tube baby was born in the UK. Instead, a new award has been suggested.