Nehruvian Model: Why Science Education Didn't Help The Common Man

The Nehruvian scientific model failed to cater to the masses, creating institutions such as the IITs which became training centres for corporates

- Ashok Rastogi

The Nehruvian model, in lay-men’s understanding, is an essential step to modernisation, often interchangeable with Westernisation. In the colonial period, with the Calcutta University being the sole centre of postgraduate studies, scientific education, and industrialisation at large, had always been on the backfoot. It began only through private initiatives, undertaken by the nationalists of the middle class.

The Nehruvian insights, conceived in post-independence India remain rooted in this backdrop. Nehru’s defence of higher education ranges from the logic that unless there are institutions to train teachers themselves, it is impossible to penetrate into the grassroots.

Technology and industrialisation were the needs of the hour to achieve self-reliance in foundational industries. To supply managerial and technical staff to the industries a modern labour force was required, fostered in a scientific temper. Nehru followed The Council for scientific and Industrial research (CSIR) model, whereby (CSIR) model, whereby specialised scientific laboratories were formed for research all over India on public enterprise.