By Rana Indos
The Union Government's budgetary provision of Rs 1,000 crore for the development of nanotechnology in India is a topsy-turvy decision that is an expression of a layman political establishment's flattery of the Indian scientific community.
Suddenly, there is a lot of interest and excitement over nanotechnology, and everybody beginning with Prof C N R Rao, the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council, and a proclaimed spear-head in the "drive towards nanotechnology in India", is exhibiting it in a child-like fashion over its the future.
Nanoscience deals with study of molecules the size of which range between one nanometre and a 100 nanometre (nm). One nanometre is one-billionth of a metre -- that small! And the excitement stems from revolutionary possibilities of super-miniaturising machines that today fill up an average Indian living room.
For instance, nanotechnology can arrange atoms in such a manner that a microscopic structure of a cannon can be built in nano dimensions. These micro-cannons can be sent into the blood stream of a cancer patient to hunt and destroy cancer cells completely; or nano-particles coated on soldiers' uniforms could be able to provide bullet-proof features to save soldiers from enemy fire.
But mostly, the potential and the promise in this field is towards a huge medical revolution using nanotechnology, that could give us a world that is close to a never-land.
Now this is what has been talked about. It has not yet happened in reality anywhere in the world. But nano-scientists believe it can work.
This explains why Union Science and Technology minister Kapil Sibal pressured the government to take note of this field, especially the strides in nano research made by Japan and USA. He probably rose the fear bar to such an extent that the government finally yielded to provide for the Rs 1,000 crore for the development of nanotechnology -- lest we miss the bus, as has happened for almost always in the past in almost everything except the invention of 'zero'.
All that is not fine.
The problem here is that the government allocation is aiming at setting up six nano centres across India to facilitate catching up with nano resercah the world over.
How are we going to manage that? Where is the human resources in terms of qualified faculty members going to fill these institutions which are planned to be autonomous in nature? Will there be enough students taking up this field and plan to conduct research to make it another IT revolution?
As it is, scientists are cribbing about the lack of interest in science among the Indian youth who are preferring a more lucrative career in IT, management, or some creative field that pays (science for them is not a creative field, though it can be, but may not pay well).
There is a shocking shortage of quality research papers coming from Indian scientists. The research that happens is either mediocre, inconclusive, or inconsequential.
Such a scenario afflicting science in general has led to India not being able to manufacture its own indigenous car engine, leave alone their efforts in struggling to develop an aircraft engine, Kaveri, for an aircraft that again was once dreamt to be a completely indigenous fighter.
Sadly, neither the engine nor the aircraft can be completely indigenous as the foreign contribution in building the aircraft is only growing. Now considering the project delays and the technical snags that the Indian scientists were not able to handle foreign engine makers and aircraft manufacturers are stepping in, aiming to improve upon the existing designs or partly bring in their own designs wherever suited.
And the man who has been screaming from the top of his voice from the roof-tops about this poor trend affecting Indian science is none other than the man who is most excited about these six nano centres coming up -- Prof C N R Rao himself!
As it is, there is hardly any research coming from the universities, which should be playing the key role in rolling out applicable research to be acquired by the industry for commercial applications.
The pressure therefore lies on the few institutions like the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). But ironically, they themselves are complaining about declining interest of the youth towards science.
Now the Union government is planning more of both these too. This is happening when the new field of nanotechnology is dawning upon us with plans of the six new centres to propel this field.
Everyone is excited about a "perfect future" in which people could probably live for ever, because the verbal claims made over the futuristic prowess of nanotechnology points at something like that.
So typically an Indian response to something as "revolutionary" as nanotechnology -- a layman government, excited scientists, Rs 1,000 crore provision, .......and dreams of living in "Wonder Land"?
But how does one begin, Prof Rao? India might just replay its earlier performances. So just make sure she doesn't!
No comments:
Post a Comment