Road to Atmanirbhar Bharat is through science

DR JITENDRA SINGH Union minister of state for science and technology, earth sciences, departments of atomic energy and space

- REKHA DIXIT

INDIAN SCIENTISTS ARE a respected community worldwide. Indian science, however, has a patchy reputation. It throws up brilliance and success stories, and then gets mired in mumbo jumbo. Ahead of National Science Day (February 28), Minister of State for Science and Technology, Space and Atomic Energy Dr Jitendra Singh speaks about how the government approaches science. Excerpts from the interview:

Q/We are doing this interaction ahead of National Science Day, which commemorates C.V. Raman’s announcement of the Raman Effect, for which he got a Nobel Prize. Science, however, remains below the radar in India.

A/I think the Narendra Modi government has given a new impetus to science in India. The budgets for science and health ministries have been increased. In fact, Modi ji took the revolutionary step of “unlocking science”. The government no longer wishes to be the zealous custodian of the “strategic sciences” and has made these spheres accessible to people.

The Centre first released geospatial data and maps in the public domain. It then opened up the space and atomic energy sectors to private enterprise. Our thinking has shifted from safeguarding the knowledge to being a guardian of that knowledge and technology.