Editorial: Science and superstition

The tendency towards greater control of scientific and other educational institutions is a regressive step

The year just passed by was a picture of paradox for Indian science; on the one hand, there were many achievements that made every citizen proud but on the other, the politicisation of scientific institutions and promotion of bigotry and superstitions under the guise of science were a dampener. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August was a monumental moment for India’s space research community and demonstrated its technological prowess to the world. A remarkable feature of the mission was that it landed on the South Pole, the dark side of the moon and a challenging terrain for landing. This made India the fourth country in the world, after the United States, Russia and China, to soft-land spacecraft on the lunar surface and the first to land on the South Pole. While scientific milestones evoked a sense of optimism over the future, certain decisions of the central government came as a big disappointment. Slashing the funds for the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), which organises the annual Indian Science Congress, abolition of several science awards, closure of Vigyan Prasar, the science communication arm of the government, and removal of lessons relating to evolution from science textbooks for secondary grades were among the moves that went against the cause of science. No wonder there are growing allegations that the autonomy of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is being deliberately diluted. Another disturbing trend is that several scientific departments have been liberally sponsoring the annual science festival organised by an RSS affiliate, Vigyan Bharti, for the past few years.

The tendency towards greater control of scientific and other educational institutions is a regressive step. Unfortunately, most institutions are not just toeing the government’s line but appear to be going overboard to please their political masters. For instance, the CSIR laboratory in Lucknow — the National Botanical Research Institute — developed a variety of the lotus with 108 petals and named it ‘Namoh 108’. The awards and fellowships, given by the academies and research institutions for encouraging young researchers and recognising excellence and lifelong contribution, were summarily abolished. The year also saw widespread agitations by young research scholars demanding allowances to match the rate of inflation and their daily living costs. Despite these disconcerting developments, the overall progress in the science and technology sector has been commendable. Soon after the lunar success, ISRO launched another high-profile mission, Aditya L1, to study the sun. Besides the lunar and solar missions, ISRO executed several other important projects, including the testing of the technology demonstrator of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD), the launch of the first in the second-generation navigation satellite series and the testing of the crew escape module for the human space mission, Gaganyaan. On the policy front, a keenly watched development was the Bill passed for the creation of the National Research Foundation as an umbrella body for research funding.

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