GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
SCIENTIFIC POLICY RESOLUTION
New Delhi, the 4th March 1958/13th Phalguna, 1879
No. 131/CF/57. - The key to national prosperity, apart from the
spirit of the people, lies, in the modern age, in the effective
combination of three factors, technology, raw materials and capital,
of which the first is perhaps the most important, since the creation
and adoption of new scientific techniques can, in fact, make up
for a deficiency in natural resources, and reduce the demands
on capital. But technology can only grow out of the study of science
and its applications.
2. The dominating feature of the contemporary world is the intense
cultivation of science on a large scale, and its application to
meet a country's requirements. It is this, which, for the first
time in man's history, has given to the common man in countries
advanced in science, a standard of living and social and cultural
amenities, which were once confined to a very small privileged
minority of the population. Science has led to the growth and
diffusion of culture to an extent never possible before. It has
not only radically altered man's material environment, but, what
is of still deeper significance, it has provided new tools of
thought and has extended man's mental horizon. It has thus influenced
even the basic values of life, and given to civilization a new
vitality and a new dynamism.
3. It is only through the scientific approach and method and the
use of scientific knowledge that reasonable material and cultural
amenities and services can be provided for every member of the
community, and it is out of a recognition of this possibility
that the idea of a welfare state has grown. It is characteristic
of the present world that the progress towards the practical realisation
of a welfare state differs widely from country to country in direct
relation to the extent of industrialisation and the effort and
resources applied in the pursuit of science.
4. The wealth and prosperity of a nation depend on the effective
utilisation of its human and material resources through industrialisation.
The use of human material for industrialisation demands its education
in science and training in technical skills. Industry opens up
possibilities of greater fulfilment for the individual. India's
enormous resources of man-power can only become an asset in the
modern world when trained and educated.
5. Science and technology can make up for deficiencies in raw
materials by providing substitutes, or, indeed, by providing skills
which can be exported in return for raw materials. In industrialising
a country, heavy price has to be paid in importing science and
technology in the form of plant and machinery, highly paid personnel
and technical consultants. An early and large scale development
of science and technology in the country could therefore greatly
reduce the drain on capital during the early and critical stages
of industrialisation.
6. Science has developed at an ever-increasing pace since the
beginning of the century, so that the gap between the advanced
and backward countries has widened more and more. It is only by
adopting the most vigorous measures and by putting forward our
utmost effort into the development of science that we can bridge
the gap. It is an inherent obligation of a great country like
India, with its traditions of scholarship and original thinking
and its great cultural heritage, to participate fully in the march
of science, which is probably mankind's greatest enterprise today.
7. The Government of India have accordingly decided that the aims
of their scientific policy will be -
to foster, promote, and sustain, by all appropriate means, the
cultivation of science, and scientific research in all its aspects
- pure, applied, and educational;
to ensure an adequate supply, within the country, of research
scientists of the highest quality, and to recognize their work
as an important component of the strength of the nation;
to encourage, and initiate, with all possible speed, programmes
for the training of scientific and technical personnel, on a scale
adequate to fulfil the country's needs in science and education,
agriculture and industry, and defence;
to ensure that the creative talent of men and women is encouraged
and finds full scope in scientific activity;
to encourage individual initiative for the acquisition and dissemination
of knowledge, and for the discovery of new knowledge, in an atmosphere
of academic freedom ;
and, in general, to secure for the people of the country all the
benefits that can accrue from the acquisition and application
of scientific knowledge.
The Government of India have decided to pursue and accomplish
these aims by offering good conditions of service to scientists
and according them an honoured position, by associating scientists
with the formulation of policies, and by taking such other measures
as may be deemed necessary from time to time.
