By IANS
New Delhi : India has not received a single Nobel Prize in the field of science after independence but efforts are on to spur innovation and research, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Monday.
To a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether it is fact that no Nobel Prize has been awarded to India in science after independence, Sibal said: “Yes Sir”.
However, Sibal said his ministry was making efforts to strengthen research and innovation in the field of science.
“The government has taken a number of steps to promote scientific research in the country. There are also numerous schemes to fund research activities of individual scientists,” the minister said.
Seven Indians, including two India-born and one of Indian origin, have won the prestigious award. The last one to receive the honour was Amartya Sen for Economics (1998).
C.V. Raman was the only Indian to receive the Nobel in science (physics, 1930).
Though two Indian-born scientists – Har Gobind Khorana (Medicine, 1968) and S. Chandrasekhar (Physics, 1983) – won the Nobel after independence, they had adopted US citizenship before receiving the award.
V.S. Naipaul, born in the Caribbean to an Indian-born family, was conferred the Nobel for literature in 2001.
The others, who have brought honour to India are Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979), Rabindra Nath Tagore (Literature, 1913).
Elaborating on the initiatives taken by his ministry, Sibal said: “The government of India has also undertaken a major exercise to strengthen infrastructure in universities and colleges at large. It also has major arrangements in science and technology with the US, France, Germany and several other leading countries.”
“To make the higher education system more research-oriented, the government has recently established three new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Kolkata, Pune and Mohali,” he said.
The minister added that he has demanded Rs.1,220 billion during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12).
“The plan allocation of scientific departments was doubled from Rs.12,000 crore (Rs.120 billion) in the 9th Five Year Plan to Rs.25,000 crore (Rs.250 billion) in the 10th Plan. The steering committee on Science and Technology for the XI Plan has recommended that it be increased to about Rs.122,000 crore (Rs.1,220 billion),” Sibal said.