A disservice to science and research

The government has made a serious mistake in deciding to do away with the many awards, prizes and fellowships given away by various ministries and departments for meritorious and exceptional achievements in science. About 200 such awards will be dispensed with, and they are to be replaced with a few national awards, including one or two ‘high status’ awards. This is like adopting a “one nation, one award” policy, similar to the policies on taxes, ration cards, entrance tests or other things. It has also been reported that the government wants to institute a high profile ‘Vigyan Ratna’ award on the lines of the Nobel Prize. It has asked the Department of Space, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Department of Atomic Energy to scrap all existing awards and institute new ‘high status’ awards. The prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given to young scientists has not been awarded this year.

These decisions were taken at a meeting held last month which was chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to streamline and rationalise the awards given in various sectors, including science and technology. It is not for the Home ministry to make a judgement on science awards and frame a policy on them. Bhalla has said that the rationalisation of the awards was based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for “transformation of the awards ecosystem”, which aims to ensure transparency in selecting “really deserving candidates”. But the vision should not be so narrow as to exclude large numbers of scientists and researchers from the State’s system of honours and recognition.

This is a very wrongheaded policy and will do a lot of damage to science education and research in the country. There should be multiple awards and honours of various kinds at various levels to encourage and reward scientists and researchers. The awards will spur them to compete and excel and to win recognition. The prospect of such recognition will also push students to opt for science and pursue careers in various science and technology streams. It should be noted that most scientists who win major awards have got smaller awards early in their careers. It is ridiculous if only five or six awards are available to the millions of students and researchers pursuing science in the country. The need is actually to institute more awards and make them available to more and more scientists and researchers, on the basis of fair and rigorous criteria. India’s position is very backward in science and technology, and both are important for development. The awards policy should be part of the broader science policy and it should be meant to promote science.