Scientists Took To Streets For Robust Funds

Thousands of scientists, students, educational NGOs and science enthusiasts across the country came out on the streets on August 9th demanding robust funding for scientific research and policies to encourage a scientific temper among the population.

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August 9 became a red-lettered day in the history of science movement of India. The March was held at New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand, Lucknow, Allahabad, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Calcutta, Gangtok, Guwahati, Agartala, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram etc., where thousands and thousands of people joined and stood for science.

“We know of several instances where science funding agencies such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) have approved research projects but have not been able to disburse the money due to lack of funds. Here, we have a situation where the government is prepared to spend money to research on locating the ancient ‘Saraswati river’ and ‘Ram Setu’, and the benefits of cow-dung and cow-urine, but not support legitimate science research organisations”, said Professor Soumitro Banerjee from Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata.

Banerjee is the general secretary of the Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), a Bengal-based organisation that helps spread experimentation and scientific knowledge in schools, and that helped organize the march. “This was a spontaneous movement among the scientific community in India,” said Banerjee, to spread some awareness about what science means.

At 11 a.m. on August 9th protestors in Bengaluru, a southern city that is one of India’s key science hubs, were among the first to set off. According to the BSS group, more than 1000 people participated in this movement.

In Delhi, India's capital, the march was a tamer affair. Some 200 people took to the streets, carrying placards with messages such as “Defend science, not defund science” and “Stop killing science for your personal and political agenda”.