1. Reward System In Indian Science
February 5, 2016
Rishabh Shukla
M Tech Fellow, NCSM, Kolkata
2. Outline:
1. Mertnonian Ethos of Science
2. Science - Pre & Post Independence
3. Awards Instituted in India
4. Science And Beauracracy
5. Conclusion
3. Mertonian Ethos of Science:
C
U
D
O
S
Communism = Scientific knowledge should be communally owned
Universalism = The criteria used to evaluate a scientific claim
should not depend on the identity of the person making the
claim.
Disinterestedness = Scientists should disengage their interests
from their actions and judgments.
Organized Skepticism = Scientific ideas should be subject to
community-wide tests and challenges.
4. Science - Pre & Post Indepndance:
Pre Independence (1900-30)
1. JC Bose
2. Meghnand Saha
3. Satyendra Nath Bose
4. Sir CV Raman
5. S Ramanujam
Post Independence
1. Government took over and
mismanaged research.
2. No Nobel or Novel Work
3. We Follow but not lead
4. Imitating things doesn’t lead to
Nobel.
{Work Done Entirely outside India}
1. Hargobind Khorana (1968)
2. Subramanyam Chandrashekhar. (1983)
3. Venkerraman Ramakrishnam (2009)
5. 1. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award
2. Infosys Prize
3. Indian Science Award
4. SASTRA Ramanujan Prize
5. Vigyan Gaurav Award
6. Padma Awards
7. & Various Chairs at Univeristies.
8. Promotions in Dept can also be assumed as
appreciation/award
Scientific Awards Instituted In India:
Indian Science has been hamstrung by a bureaucratic mentality that values
administrative power over scientific achievement.
6. Science and Beauracracy:
Dept of Atomic Energy
1. Created in 1954
1. Bhabha was Secretary, gained
credibility but couldn't foster
innovation.
1. Science was measured by
administrative position
1. Good Science was accidental.
DRDO
1. Sitting on enormous funds
1. Hirrerchial system
1. Technologiest slotted into
administrative grades
1. Case of AJ Paulraj (Marconi Prize
Winner) from Indian Navy.
Policies framed by Indian Government are violating Mertonian Principles.
7. Science and Beauracracy:
Other Research Institutes
1. Promotions on the basis of years of service, rather than achievement.
2. Unresonable rules like limited foreign travels
3. No travel support for research students limits the exposure.
4. Lateral movement is not encouraged. internal promotion
These policies either directly or inderctly violating Mertonian Norms .
