The concluding day of the Indian science Congress on Wednesday was marked with a controversial remark made by Janki Andharia, a professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). She called the scientists 'arrogant, non-inclusive and influenced by politics', while blaming these behaviour behind the failure of many scientific initiatives.
Prof Andharia was one of the speakers at the session of "Research need in environmental science". Irked with the convenor of the session Rakesh Kumar, who is also the director of NEERI, Andharia's opening remarks left the audience stunned.
Four of the other panelists were male scientists, and the fact that Kumar kept her slot for the end, left Andharia infuriated. "This shows that the scientists are biased, both against women and social sciences," she said.
Rakesh Kumar introduced her, saying: "Her slot was kept at the end, so that she could have the last word." However, this failed to calm her down, and her irritation was palpable during her presentation, where she claimed:
"Scientists are arrogant. When they move up in the hierarchy, their ego also goes up. They think no one can question them. They are neither neutral nor objective."
She also alleged that scientists get influenced by power politics, by virtue of their acceptance of becoming part of government committees where they remain as a minority and don't have much say. She said: "Scientists consider nature and culture as two different things. They don't seek help of social scientists to understand the needs of the people and community, until they fail."
Citing an instance, the irate professor said: "They study the air quality of villages where people use coal chullah, but don't take into account their basic needs, health and socio-economic conditions. That is why initiatives to save the environment fail, as common people don't identify with it."
In response to her allegations, a science professor said: "Many of us feel offended." Another professor stated, "While she blamed scientists for being biased, she probably didn't realise that passing a remark about the whole community is also a kind of bias, which was not expected from her."
The organizers refused to comment.
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