In its true form stand a chance in India after all? The Centre has made a welcome move by proposing a draft science, technology, and innovation policy for discussion. Under this policy, the Centre would buy large quantities of subscriptions to all significant scientific journals around the world and make their content freely accessible in India. This move could have positive and far-reaching implications for the pursuit of science and education in the country.
For one, publicly-funded research will become legally available to students, members of the scientific community as well as other citizens, a privilege that was hitherto hard to come by given the prohibitive costs of science journals. There are reportedly over 3,000-4,000 high-impact scientific journals, most of which are so expensive that they become the single-biggest item of cost for even prominent institutes. The lack of access to these publications hindered the stimulation of ideas in scientific research. It is to be hoped that the open data policy promotes ground-breaking research, fostering a scientific temper in the process. This is of critical importance, given the concern that the present dispensation is eager to propagate unsubstantiated claims and belief as ‘science’. No less than the prime minister is on record eulogizing ancient India for its accomplishments in genetic research. Second, in a nation where bright minds are increasingly turning away from a career in research due to a lack of grant opportunities and research avenues, removing the barriers to high-quality scientific material and journals would also boost pure research prospects. Women are also required to make up at least 30% of all decision-making bodies, according to the draft policy. It is no secret that the pursuit of science — a vocation of reason — is mired in all kinds of social prejudice. Skewed gender representation is one example of the biases. In 2018, women made up a meagre 14 per cent of 2.8 lakh scientists, engineers and technologists employed in India’s research and development institutes. This discrimination is not merely an ethical blot. It is well known that cutting-edge technology is hindered by biased representation of gender and community. For instance, recruitment systems based on artificial intelligence have been found to discriminate against job applicants with female names. Equal representation and free access would also be in line with India’s constitutional principles, which hold that education and equality in all areas of public life are essential to a democracy’s health.
