General apathy towards research in India: President

Raising concerns about poor quality of education in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee today said there was a "general apathy" towards research here while the BRICS countries like Brazil and China were far ahead in this field.
Delivering Debaranajan Mukherji Memorial Lecture here at Rajbhavan, Mukherjee said there is no doubt that there is a shortage of academics and faculty but it can be partly managed by technology, information technology and internet tools.
"Our emphasis on research and development is very scanty. There is general apathy towards research. In BRICS countries, Brazil and China are far ahead in research work," he said.

The President said he has been raising question that among so many IITs, NITs, IISc do not figure in the top ratings by international agencies.
"While filing for rating we do not take care how to file relevant information. Another aspect was we were not realising that today's world is emerging as a global world. Discovery of internet and its massive use, mobile phones, massive spread of televisions has completely overhauled the perception and views of people," he said.
The President said we are not emphasising the cross fertilisation of views among the intellectuals, faculty members from other universities.

He also said there was lack of exchange programme among students and faculty.

Recalling his student days, Mukherjee said the quality of teaching is also not the same now.
Late Debranjan Mukherji was the teacher of President Pranab Mukherjee at Vidyasagar College, Burdwan.
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Citing the example of progress made in the field of agriculture through use of technology, the President said, "At the time of independence, our agriculture sector was under-developed and we were a net importer of food grains.
"It is the synergy between science and public policy which resulted in technologically upgrading our agriculture system. The excellence of our scientists and toil of our farmers, together led to the Green Revolution of the sixties."

Mukherjee added that such a transition has few parallels in human history.
"In the years that followed, India-based research led to the emergence of a strong pharmaceutical industry. More recently, we have made major strides in the biotechnology and Information Technology industries," he said.
The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) today honoured researchers for their achievements and contributions in the fields of science and humanities across six categories -- engineering and computer science, humanities, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences, and social Sciences.
The laureates were awarded with Rs 65 lakh, a 22-karat gold medallion and a citation certificate.
The six winners of the Infosys Prize 2015 are Professor Umesh Waghmare, Professor Jonardon Ganeri, Dr Amit Sharma, Professor Mahan Mj, Professor G Ravindra Kumar and Dr Srinath Raghavan. These were selected from 206 nominees.

Infosys Science Foundation Board of Trustees President S D Shibulal said the work of the winners span fields as diverse as analytical Indian Philosophy, the atomic structure of the killer malaria parasite, and India's foreign and security policies.