If India’s ‘science drought’ is a concern for Professor Chintamani Rao, then the scant turnout of students for his first public lecture at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) on July 29 would certainly not have eased his fears.
Bangalore-bred Professor Rao, a distinguished solid-state and materials chemist, is the most senior scientific advisor to the Indian Prime Minister.
The world-renowned Indian scientist obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Mysore in 1951, a Master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University and a PhD from Purdue University in 1958. He has published 1400 essays and earned prestigious accolades, notably the title of Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (French government’s equivalent of knighthood) and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan honours by the Indian government.
In Sydney for a conference on electronic materials, Professor Rao was invited to deliver a public lecture at UNSW where he spoke about the uphill battle for science in India, especially with the threat of the IT industry.
Unlike IT facilities which are top-class in India, science students have come from humble beginnings.
“The people who serve India [are] the engineers who have built our space program – 99 percent of these engineers come from ordinary colleges,” he said in his speech. “The ordinary Indian is an extraordinary Indian.”
The esteemed scientist spoke with Indian Link about his work and scientific research in India.
Prof Rao, has science suffered as a result of the IT boom?
Chintamani Rao: Yes, a little bit, mainly because our brightest people go aboard. We can’t stop that – we’re a democracy so we can’t just lock up people and say ‘don’t go away’. Secondly, the number of bright young people coming to science has reduced and funding for science has not been so great. Therefore we’re taking other steps to see if we can encourage bright young people to take up science. This year, we have had a 300% increase in spending of science.
(A major part of this investment was the creation of five science institutions in Pune, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Trivandrum and Bhopal, which the government hopes will produce 5000 undergraduate and 1000 postgraduate students each.)
What role can India play in scientific progress in the world?
CR: I think India will produce all the talented people. A high percentage of all the professionals in the world are Indians because India is a very young country. Fifty percent of India is young so while the rest of the world is getting old, young people from India will be the future scientific professionals. That’s a huge influence India will have over the world.
With climate change and the destruction of our environment, there are conscious efforts being taken to preserve the environment. Can India lead the way for combating climate change?
CR: Well, we will try but it is not our first priority. Pollution has been done by you, the advanced countries for many years; why should we be the first to do it?
I don’t want to pollute but on the other hand, I don’t want to stop the progress of India and China. This is very unfair of all the advanced countries. [US President George] Bush gets mad because we don’t agree to the trade deals – why should we agree? After all, America has subsidised more than any other country and they have polluted for ages. Sixty percent of the world’s energy is used by them.
India’s just coming up, now is not the time to put all these restrictions. Of course we’re concerned about carbon emissions, but we’ll not give you a charter right now. That is the stand we’re going to take. It’s not for convenience, it’s very fair.
In what way, apart from technology, is India progressing now?
CR: The gap between the poor and rich is reducing. We have a large poor population in India of 600 million and we have an upper middle class of 350 million, of which 250 million were created in the last ten years. Upward mobility is the highest in India. The poor man of today in Bangalore will become a middle class man in 10 years because his children will get educated, get good jobs and take care of the parents. My wife and I supported many young boys and girls throughout their studies in Bangalore because they had no money. One fellow, a Tamilian, stopped my car recently in Bangalore when I was at a university campus. He touched my feet and said, ‘You made me whatever I am today.’ I felt very touched because he was a very poor man with barely two meals a day not long ago. So upward mobility is great and that is making India what it is today.
Is nuclear energy the way of the future, even though we know the risks of nuclear waste upon human populations and the environment?
CR: Ask America – why are you asking me? This question should be asked to the entire world, not just India. My personal opinion is that I’m against all nuclear things, bombs should never be made by man. But they are making it. There are 28,000 bombs in the world, don’t forget and that’s enough to destroy the world 20 times over. You and I are not responsible for that – others have done it, all we’re asking is to build nuclear reactors for energy but for that we need uranium, and they’re not selling that to India. Supposedly this nuclear deal will allow us to buy and when that does happen, we’ll find a way to produce energy from the reactor. We should be able to buy it like China does.