WHEN we gained independence in 1947, we fervently hoped that India would emerge as a progressive, economically sound country, where social justice prevailed. As Gandhiji had pointed out, true freedom meant wiping out unemployment, bridging the gulf between the rich and the poor, banishing communal strife and ensuring that millions of Indians wholeheartedly participated in nation building.

These hopes were enshrined in our Constitution which directs that:

‘The state shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing

(a) that the citizen, men and women, equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood; (b) that the ownership and control of the natural resources of the country are so distributed as best to sub-serve the common good. (Art. 39)

‘The state shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of the constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. (Art. 45)

‘The state shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties…’ (Art. 47)

‘The state shall endeavour to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. (Art.48)

India is one of the few countries, which, from the very beginning, recognized the importance of science in national development. The science policy resolution of 4 March 1958 moved by Pandit Nehru clearly states that we have to secure for the people of the country all the benefits that can accrue from the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge.

There is a universal feeling today that the use of scientific knowledge has improved the quality of life all over the globe. This great benefit to humankind is exemplified by the increase in life expectancy, the availability of cures for many of the diseases and the increased agricultural output. The myriad of scientific discoveries and technological developments has indeed affected mankind in a major fashion. An outstanding example of a discovery that has changed our lives is that of the transistor. The new communication and information technologies have brought unprecedented opportunities and can be a vehicle for social integration.

We in India have had scientific traditions for centuries, and the application of modern scientific knowledge has helped us to overcome many difficult problems. Thus, the eradication of smallpox and the agricultural revolution have brought considerable relief to much of our population. Today, we are reasonably self-sufficient in food. We also have done well in the production of milk. Wherever our scientists have been assigned well-defined tasks, the results have been remarkable, typical examples being our accomplishments in space, atomic energy and defence. In the last 50 years, we have built a number of scientific and educational institutions and the country has considerable technical manpower.

Despite the progress made in the last five decades, the country remains backward on many counts. We have a high percentage of illiterates and diseases such as malaria, polio and leprosy continue to plague our people. AIDS is a major threat that is looming at our doors. Rampant malnutrition is affecting the growth of a high proportion of our population. Safe drinking water is not available in most parts of the country.

Nearly 36 per cent of our population still lives below the poverty line, indicating an inability to secure minimum caloric needs. About two million children die each year before they are one year old. There are no primary health centres or subcentres in a third of our 600,000 villages. Close to 52 per cent of children under the age of five years are malnourished – a rate that is among the worst in the world, nearly twice the levels reported in sub-Saharan Africa.

Clearly, there is a need for effective utilization of science and technology for the progress of the nation and for improving the overall quality of life of our citizens. It must be recognized that solutions to the various problems faced in the country do not depend on science and technology alone. There is need for political will as well as proper organization and planning in the socio-economic sectors.

The need to integrate socio-economic planning with science and technology planning has been stressed over the years. The National Committee made the first effort in this direction for Science and Technology (NCST) during the 1970s. The NCST prepared the first science and technology plan with an agenda of action. Since then, there have been other bodies, in particular the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister during the 1980s, which attempted to do the same. Much of what has been said in the approach papers and other documents produced by these bodies still remain relevant today. Success in integrating science and technology planning with socio-economic planning, however, has been limited inspite of the new challenges being faced by the country.

While different kinds of initiatives in science and technology are required today, the most important of them all is science and technology need to be addressed to solving the pressing problems of the common citizen. These include population, food, shelter, health and nutrition. High level R&D would be necessary to tackle problems in all these sectors.

According to current estimates, India’s population is expected to be about 1500 million by 2050 and to stabilize around 1700 million sometime thereafter. The problem of food security in the country will become serious in the years to come, especially in view of the increasing population. It is likely that we will have to produce around 350 million tonnes of food by the middle of the next century. Meanwhile, the increasing population will exert severe pressure on the land, forest and water resources. If we continue to use these resources as at present, there will be a large gap between foodgrain production and demand. A new approach to resource management is clearly necessary.

Although shelter for people is enshrined in the constitution, housing has not received the attention it deserves. The estimated shortage of housing in 1990 was about 30 per cent of the need. If the housing situation is bad, the living conditions are worse. Nearly 40 per cent of the population lives in one-room tenements and another 30 per cent in two-room dwelling units. The conditions in slums and squatter settlements are grave. Only 76 per cent of urban and 31 per cent of rural households receive electricity. Barely 9 per cent rural homes and 23 per cent of urban homes have toilets. New initiatives are needed to correct these major deficiencies.

Health care and services play a significant role in population control, just as do education and economic well-being. Excessive preoccupation with family planning targets has reduced the health care facilities in rural India. Nearly 70 per cent of public sector outlay for health is spent in urban areas, where substantial private sector facilities exist. The nature of training and technology required for health care in rural areas requires a totally different approach than what obtains today.

The health of a person is largely dependent on the nutritional input among other factors. Nutritional inadequacy arises either due to poverty or environmental degradation. Undernutrition and malnutrition also contribute to mortality rates. Malnutrition and maintenance of health pose serious problems, particularly in the rural areas. There are many diseases unique to India which demand considerable research effort.

It is high time that all our citizens have a sustainable livelihood. While planning science and technology, therefore, we cannot forget that we have to justify the trust placed by society on the scientific community. The society should have a reason to support science in the country and it is important for us to demonstrate by performance the effective role of science in improving the conditions and standards of living. In such planning, we must consider the various possible development alternatives and adopt such policies and programmes as would promote sustainable development. Instead of following beaten paths defined elsewhere, the Indian situation has to be a prime guiding force. Such a unique Indian approach to development is necessary to reduce unemployment and ensure social justice. Focused research and development, proper institutional mechanisms as well as planned extension and diffusion activities would be required to solve many of the pressing problems mentioned earlier. With well-directed efforts, it may indeed be possible to improve the overall quality of life of our people, without necessarily increasing the GDP to a substantial extent.

A glaring problem that we face in making appropriate development plans for the country relates to the poor infrastructure in all its aspects. This includes the core sectors of energy, transportation and communications.

The relationship between energy and population is conditioned by several factors such as economic growth rate, demand for food, changes in living conditions, availability of technologies and capital. We have to evolve a proper energy policy wherein we can clearly define how the country should make use of the different sources of energy. We have not adequately made use of alternative energy sources, in particular solar energy. India should be a leader in solar energy research, and this requires particular attention. Assuming a population of 1.2 billion by 2020, there is a need to adopt an energy strategy which would have a high priority for development of renewable sources of energy and for energy conservation and efficient use. Considerable effort will be necessary to enunciate and administer a sound energy programme.

The future demand for transportation will be governed by factors such as income growth, energy supply, environmental norms and pressures from rural and remote areas. The need for much better public and inter-modal transportation systems will arise. It is not only roads, but all the means of transportation in the country that are unsatisfactory. We have to think of a completely new approach to transportation. It is possible that we can have an air transportation strategy by using medium-sized aircraft which will provide easy means of travel to isolated places. Such air transportation has indeed been used by other developing countries to facilitate the movement of people from one remote part of the country to another. A completely new strategy, making use of new technologies, may be necessary to adequately satisfy our transportation needs.

There is much to be done in making use of modern information technology. It is not only useful as a means of communication among institutions and people, but also to integrate the country. We have to network all our scientific, industrial and educational institutions. A proper communications facility would give greater confidence to the people living in the rural parts and empower them in the true sense. The new Information Technology Policy addresses many of the current concerns. It is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the investments in information technology reach the people in rural areas. The scientific and technological community can play a crucial role in this direction.

Education is an essential part of the infrastructure needs of a nation. Without a proper education base, no plan for the country will succeed. In addition to the eradication of illiteracy, inculcation of scientific temper amongst the masses should get priority, since a proper awareness of the environment around them will trigger the participation of a majority of our citizens in the development process and their ability to tackle new situations. Facilities in educational institutions need immediate attention in view of the increasing gap between primary and higher education. Strengthening the education sector will give us a strong knowledge base which can then be utilized by the country to create wealth. It is necessary that the allocation for the education sector be at least doubled.

Besides tackling the pressing problems of mankind and those related to infrastructure, science and technology have to be fully exploited to make the country competitive. The technology base of the Indian industry has to be improved where innovation plays a major role. The art of transforming knowledge into wealth has to be learnt by all concerned and this can happen only when the industry fully appreciates the role of the knowledge base. There has to be special emphasis on engineering design and in the accumulation of intellectual property.

Long-term planning in technology has severe limitations. It is important to be aware of new developments in technology and the areas in science that are likely to yield path-breaking technologies. Support for fundamental research is, therefore, equally important because new technologies will be based on science at the cutting edge. Unless we are leaders in science, it is unlikely that we will be competitive in the technologies of the future.

Young talent has to be attracted to take up careers in science and engineering. The recent trend where young people are mainly attracted to commerce, business and banking has to be reversed. Priority determination for S&T should include the neglected dimensions of the large masses of our people. A balance should be sought between those sectors of major economic and strategic requirement and the social development sectors. A specific component of S&T should be inserted and effectively utilized in every major development sector.

In the industrial sector, and the related R&D efforts, greater attention has to be paid to knowledge-based industry where India can become a world leader. For example, in the software area our aim should be to get around 4-5% of the world business.

In order to sustain the existing talent and induct new capabilities to meet the challenges of a competitive world, there should be an unambiguous declaration of intent and support for science and technology. Such a policy commitment should be demonstrated by increasing the present level of support to science from 0.8 per cent of GDP to 2 or 3 per cent of GDP within a time frame.

The government cannot for-sake its responsibility of supporting science and technology in the country for some years to come. It is the government’s responsibility to support higher education and scientific research, at least in publicly funded institutions. Industry may eventually help in this direction, but it will take some time. The government has a role in this transition period, and should act as a catalyst as well as a promoter.

Successful scientific effort in the country has been mainly due to the design of programmes with clearly defined targets, providing autonomy and accountability, free from negative interference. They have also demonstrated the positive effects of multi-institutional linkages. Assuming that an encouraging policy commitment emerges, it is also of paramount importance that a transparent code of ethics and conduct on the part of the scientific community also prevails.

The scientific community in India has demonstrated its ability to achieve commendable results, where the priorities and goals have been unambiguously set, and institutions designed to achieve the goals. Future management efforts can derive many lessons from our successful experiences.

What is required immediately is a national consensus on the neglected priorities where science and technology should play a far greater role than at present. It is not a difficult task to achieve a consensus on the following priority areas: food security, housing, health and nutrition, energy security, transportation, communications and information technology, and education.

For each of the priority needs, specific goals, time-bound targets and programmes should be defined with some urgency. For example, we should be able to remove illiteracy, malaria and malnutrition in the next ten years. We should become economically strong by the year 2020 by ensuring food security, a balanced energy economy and leadership in chosen sectors of industry. There is sufficient talent in the country to accomplish the targets, and all we need to do is give direction to our efforts and motivate people to take up the tasks.

Somewhat along the models of the recent Information Technology Task Force and the TIFAC, the government should constitute interdisciplinary task forces for each of the above areas of neglected sectors. They should be required to formulate not only the goals and targets but also suggest the required policy framework and resource base for achieving the targets.

Looking at our managerial and administrative practices:

i) The British developed an administrative system principally for maintaining law and order and revenue collection. Change and development were not their main objectives. Unfortunately, we have by and large continued with the old system.

ii) In the age of science and technology that we live in, we need at the helm of affairs in government institutions and departments leaders with professional competence, capacity for taking knowledgeable decisions and the ability to put in place appropriate institutions and tools. This characteristic is significantly lacking in our management system.

iii) Some of the great achievements in post-independence India, for instance the green revolution, the white revolution and the brown revolution have had professionals as their main architects.

iv) Our success in space programmes, atomic energy development and defence equipment demonstrates fully the wisdom of management by professionals in oppositions of decision-making.

v) India has over the years, especially at the level of state governments, grievously neglected professional talent in positions of decision-making and policy formulation and concentrated all the responsibility and power in the hands of generalist administrators.

vi) The single-most important step needed to achieve the many objectives that the country has placed before it is to make an objective and thorough review of our management system in the government at the Centre and the states and endeavour to bring it in line with the prevailing philosophy of management in advanced countries and the emerging global trends with such modifications as we my deem fit to suit our culture.

The real success of everything we plan depends on the manner in which we manage and administer science and technology. At present much of the science and technology effort is dominated by oppressive administrative methods where bureaucracy rules supreme. There is really no autonomy in science and technology as well as educational institutions. A simplified, transparent management system with minimal bureaucracy has to be ushered in by fully making use of the tools of information technology.

Once the budgets are defined, scientific agencies and departments as well as the concerned institutions should be able to operate freely without interference from finance departments. Except for the audit at the end of the year, restricting the mechanism for the release of funds should not hamper scientific work.

Whatever was mentioned above will have to be accomplished within a short frame of a decade or so. Unless we are able to accomplish this rather difficult task, there is the grave danger that India will continue to remain a backward country for a long time. Because of increasing competition as well as an increasing population, we will face even bigger challenges and problems in the years to come, if we do not launch a constructive programme of action geared to transforming India into an economically and morally sound nation. Really, the steps suggested here are needed for our survival. But there is hope, provided we make no excuses. If most of the recommendations made here are carried out on a time-targeted basis, India will emerge to be a country to be proud of with a high quality of life for a majority of its population. The educated and enlightened citizens of India have a special responsibility to the nation today, to accomplish the objectives and roles set forth here.