Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Rs 100 crore reward for whoever wins the prestigious Nobel Prize shouldn’t come as a surprise. What should come as surprise is allocating 1000 crores for science and technology. Naidu who is a die-hard fan of technology is one of the few cerebral Indian politicians and this first-of-its kind offer appears to be a cut-off from reality.
The hypocrisy of Naidu is revealed when he urged that each family should have a computer literate and should don the role of a ‘Chief Technological Officer’ in the family. Nobel prizes are awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics, Literature and Peace. These are core sciences and most of the students in AP opt engineering or medicine. The number of students taking up basic science is very less. Andhra Pradesh needs to revisit its primary, secondary and university education infrastructure. That doesn’t mean changing the medium of instruction from telugu to English. Rabindranath Tagore, C.V.Raman did not win Nobel prize because they could read and write English. Naidu is blinded by P Narayana who gives mediocre education at his institutions and cannot think beyond engineering and medicine courses. Nobel prize cannot be purchased for that matter.
To win a Nobel prize, we need infrastructure which ambitious Naidu can easily provide but will he, remains a question. Consider the case of Uddanam nephropathy which was detected 20years ago and yet the mystery remains. There was a point when the research did not have enough funding. This shows the tolerance level of the government. One has to create infrastructure and favorable conditions for research so that scientists can run faster and arrive at the results first. Our Science needs to be a leader and not follower. It is very difficult to stick to ideals especially with the societal pressure, even if the infrastructure is provided. The experiment by Sir C.V.Raman costed around 7rupees in a tiny lab. What is needed is the right to think creatively and be inquisitive. The scope for innovation is faint especially with parents and schools constantly expecting marks and ranks from students Science is not a glamour contest and if the minister is desperate about Nobel prize he should better ask Narayana to start “Nobel prize training institute”.
Naidu asked the Nobel laureate on how to get a Nobel prize, but failed to hear our Nobel laureates. This science congress was termed as Circus by distinguished Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. The way Naidu offered 100crores is like a parent enticing the child who is least passionate about mathematics, ‘get 100marks in math and I will buy you the video game.’
The offer comes from a minister who demolished a building because of bad Vasthu. Likewise, a large number of Indians are still superstitious, which results in poor decision making.
Winning awards doesn’t determine the science and technology capability who else can accept it better than the telugu desham party which has been urging for conferring Bharat Ratna to NTR since forever. When you know what it takes to get Bharat Ratna, one should definitely be aware of what it needs to get a Nobel prize. The thought of luring students with 100crores may motivate students to certain extent but money and passion cannot go hand in hand.
