‘Science should not be limited to labs, it has to reach society’s lowest-rung’
In an exclusive interview with Mumbai Mirror, Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Raghunath Mashelkar talks about science, technology and innovation. The former director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mashelkar also chairs the expert committee to recommend best technologies for the Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan. He was in Mumbai on Thursday to attend the golden jubilee celebration of the Indian Institute of Packaging. Edited excerpts
You have said you are against the unique Indian innovation principle of ‘jugaad’. But what is the alternative? And how does one ensure that scientific advances and innovations reach every person, at low cost and without compromising the quality?
I am not against ‘jugaad’ but I have a problem when people identify India with jugaad in innovation. I believe that need gives rise to innovation, which is why we have so many innovators from small villages to cities in the country. Affordable excellence is what we all have to strive for and I think it is in our genes.
A lot of innovation and development is happening, thanks to engineers and scientists who went abroad. As someone who championed Make in India even before it became the national slogan, what can be done to ensure leading brains remain here?
I think we have come a long way but there is a lot to be done. We need to work together, leaving behind our parochial aspirations. We need ownership of our knowledge. I have fought for two crucial patents of turmeric and Basmati rice with the US. Now India is exporting several cutting-edge technologies to the world. Our USP is affordability along with quality.
Has Swachh Bharat Abhiyan become just another media circus?
I think this is just the beginning. The country is big and so is the challenge. We cannot expect any change to happen in days. As a chairperson of the committee of the mission, I can assure you that we can all achieve what we are aspiring for in the next few years.
What about the safety of people who keep the country clean, such as manhole workers, waste pickers? Is there any attempt to give them a dignified life?
They form a very critical part of the whole system. They implement what we talk of and they are the real heroes. Along with making the Swachh Bharat mission affordable and sustainable, we are also aiming to make it socially acceptable. Clean India is not just for you and me, it is for all those who toil for hours on the field.
The whole point of science is to develop a scientific and rational temper in the country. But today, the likes of Pansare, Dabholkar who are fighting for this are gunned down, allegedly by those with extreme right links. How do you look at this?
On the one hand, we are reaching Mars, on the other, we see people are not ready to marry a girl or a boy who has mangal (mars) in his horoscope. Is this the society that we envision? Certainly not. Science should not be limited in laboratories and has to reach to the lowest-rung of the society.
You have said you are against the unique Indian innovation principle of ‘jugaad’. But what is the alternative? And how does one ensure that scientific advances and innovations reach every person, at low cost and without compromising the quality?
I am not against ‘jugaad’ but I have a problem when people identify India with jugaad in innovation. I believe that need gives rise to innovation, which is why we have so many innovators from small villages to cities in the country. Affordable excellence is what we all have to strive for and I think it is in our genes.
A lot of innovation and development is happening, thanks to engineers and scientists who went abroad. As someone who championed Make in India even before it became the national slogan, what can be done to ensure leading brains remain here?
I think we have come a long way but there is a lot to be done. We need to work together, leaving behind our parochial aspirations. We need ownership of our knowledge. I have fought for two crucial patents of turmeric and Basmati rice with the US. Now India is exporting several cutting-edge technologies to the world. Our USP is affordability along with quality.
Has Swachh Bharat Abhiyan become just another media circus?
I think this is just the beginning. The country is big and so is the challenge. We cannot expect any change to happen in days. As a chairperson of the committee of the mission, I can assure you that we can all achieve what we are aspiring for in the next few years.
What about the safety of people who keep the country clean, such as manhole workers, waste pickers? Is there any attempt to give them a dignified life?
They form a very critical part of the whole system. They implement what we talk of and they are the real heroes. Along with making the Swachh Bharat mission affordable and sustainable, we are also aiming to make it socially acceptable. Clean India is not just for you and me, it is for all those who toil for hours on the field.
The whole point of science is to develop a scientific and rational temper in the country. But today, the likes of Pansare, Dabholkar who are fighting for this are gunned down, allegedly by those with extreme right links. How do you look at this?
On the one hand, we are reaching Mars, on the other, we see people are not ready to marry a girl or a boy who has mangal (mars) in his horoscope. Is this the society that we envision? Certainly not. Science should not be limited in laboratories and has to reach to the lowest-rung of the society.
