In his address at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore last December, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed concern about the decline in the quality of research carried out in our institutions. “There is no reason why we cannot achieve the same degree of excellence when it comes to basic science and research,” the PM had said. He had termed the “declining interest among today’s youth in pursuing science as a career” as “disturbing”.

The Science & Technology Ministry has also been studying the reasons for the under-representation of women at top rungs in scientific establishments. “Out of 37 labs of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), not one is headed by a woman. We are looking into it,” Chavan, who recently held an interaction with 30 top women scientists., said.