HRD minister Prakash Javadekar. PTI File Photo
Scientists from 30 research institutions out of more than 800 Indian academic establishments are the recipients of a prestigious scholarship awarded by the Department of Science and Technology for the last 20 years.
A new analysis provides fresh evidence of what many scholars pointed out for years – the front line science research in India is limited only to handful of institutes with extremely poor contribution from the university system, where majority of the students land up after their graduation.
The list of 30 institutes only have two universities – University of Hyderabad and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Bulk of the Swarnajayanti fellowships were cornered by the scholars from the Indian Institutes of Science, Bangalore; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; Indian Institutes of Technology and laboratories under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
The fellows receive a support of Rs 25,000 per month for five years in addition to the salary they withdraw from their present institution. Moreover, they also get support for equipment, computational facilities, consumables, contingencies, national and international travel and other special requirements based on merit.
The main objectives of the scheme is to promote unfettered research to young scientists so that they become eligible for CSIR’s Shanti Swarup Bhatngar award, India’s most prestigious science award with very strict eligibility criterion.
“The pattern shows 43% Swarna Jayanti Fellows are also recipients of the Bhatnagar prize. The study reveals 70% Swarna Jayanti Fellows with doctoral training under supervision of Bhatnagar awardees are the recipients of the SSB prize followed by 66% with foreign Ph.D and 52% with domestic Ph. D counterparts,” says the study, carried out by Inderpal Singh from CSIR’s Human Resource Development Group in Delhi.
Asked why the representations from the universities are so poor, former DST secretary T Ramasami cited lack of research infrastructure and culture in the universities because of which talented young scientists prefer joining the institutes.
“For research, local infrastructure and ambience were required, which was limited to few institutes. Because of the flaws in our human resource system, creative people don’t like to go to the universities and for years, the government had too little money to spruce up the infrastructure in the universities,” Ramasami told DH.