Brain-borne betrayal

Old-timers in Mysuru can recollect the days goneby when a pass in the then intermediate class public examination was considered proper stage in life to opt for choosing courses to be pursued and also colleges to seek admission in the backdrop of highly limited choices of both courses and colleges compared to the wide world of education in our days. In one of the quiz programmes, aired by the government-sponsored Kannada channel, the teenage participants in their 10th standard, when asked about the calling they dream of in later life most often mention one or the other from among doctor, engineer, administrator, chartered accountant, Police officer, soldier and so on with hardly anyone favouring the line of scientific research. The often-heard call to the youth by many leading lights in society to cultivate scientific temper seems to have not been taken seriously, although India is reportedly among the countries hosting the highest number of graduates in science subjects. The factor of landing jobs with attractive pay package that saw a steep rise in the number of engineering colleges, with Karnataka being a leader in the race over the past few decades has virtually vanished into thin air given the ongoing feature of hundreds of those colleges pulling down their shutters. In a matching scenario, the flood of business schools across all regions of the country has overshadowed institutions offering courses in various science subjects, again the factor of landing jobs ruling the roost. The points raised in the foregoing paragraphs prompts one to debate issues of a) Luring the country’s youth to the field of scientific research, b) Establishing institutions on the model of the few highly rated ones such as IISc. (Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru) and TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai) to name just two among many more funded by both the State and Corporates, c) Providing adequate budgetary support by the government, d) Facilitating an ambience for pursing scientific research similar to the many well-marked institutions abroad, e) Societal and State recognition for achievers in the field of science and so on. One cannot but refer to media reports portraying both the various prestigious academic bodies overseeing scientific research in the land as well as leading research and development laboratories being plagued by elements inimical to creativity and research aimed at results most beneficial to society. In this context, the finding from a study by a global agency published last week in a section of the press that reputed institutions publish research papers in bogus journals makes a disturbing revelation. The flock of researchers facing that charge are agents of brain-borne betrayal.