PREZ BATS FOR WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE
PATH TO PROGRESS Kovind says development goals should be linked to science
▪ President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday expressed concern over the low participation of women in higher science, saying the country is not adequately harnessing their scientific potential and it is a collective responsibility to overcome this social and systemic challenge.
▪ The President said science was done best when it was a collaborative venture, with resources including funding resources and facilities being shared.
LUCKNOW: Pointing out that women’s scientific potential was not adequately harnessed, President Ram Nath Kovind said here on Saturday that development goals must be wedded to science for a quantum jump in progress. This would not be possible without making science a mass movement and promoting it as everyday activity in labs, schools and universities , he said.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the 4th India International Science Festival, Kovind said, “Science has been part of Indian culture. Centuries ago, our ancestors discovered the secrets of mathematics and the concept of zero. Today, in the first quarter of the 21st century, in the age of robotics and precision manufacture, of bio- informatics and gene editing, of the fourth industrial revolution and artificial Intelligence, it is time for a quantum jump.” He also pointed out that of the 3,446 scientists working in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, only 632 or 18.3% were women. “In a week when women scientists have won Nobel
Prizes for physics and chemistry, this is a telling statistic,” he said.
“Jugaad, that is cut paste experiments and frugal innovation, has its role. But if we have to transform India into a middleincome economy and an advanced industrial power, we need to upgrade the engines of knowledge creation,” he said .
“In five years between 2012 and 2017, in all 649 Indian scientists returned to pursue opportunities and in the previous five years, 243 returned to India,” he said while explaining the scientific environment in the country.
He said the role of science and scientific innovation in national developmental agenda was expanding day by day. In 2017, patent applications by Indian startups rose to 909. This was a 15-fold increase from the number in 2016 – just 61. In 2018, India’s R&D investments would amount to an appreciable US$ 83.27 billion.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that Indian scientists were very capable and had shown the way to the world in the past also.
Minister of Science and Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan said that ideas that aimed at delivering to the society would be supported by the ministry.
“If you have an idea and wish to transform it into entrepreneurship, the ministry will stand behind you ,” he said.
He said that India ranked 6th in scientific publications, number one in early forecast for Tsunami and 3rd in nanotechnology.
“Every third vaccinated child in the world gets vaccine from India as we are one of the biggest manufacturer of vaccines in the world,” he said.