In India, from about the middle of the last century, the introduction of modern technology began significantly to affect the character of Indian society. Industrialization and the consequent rise of enterpreneurial and working classes began to make the first dents on the caste system by the beginning of this century. The essential link between the introduction of science and the development of a rational and critical spirit began to be grasped from an early stage. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, campaigner against sati, religious reformer and defender of the freedom of the press was also a pioneer in the promotion of modern science education. Science and technology and their impact on society were seriously debated during the freedom struggle. The Indian Science Congress provided a serious forum where the political leadership of the freedom struggle could meet the leading figures of science and technology in India. Apart from the purely material and economic benefits of science and technology for the people, science was seen as a positive agent for social transformation. Of those at the helm of the freedom struggle, Jawaharlal Nehru, the secularist, best understood the relationship between science and a secular outlook. Recalling in 1962 the origins of his deep interest in science, Nehru wrote: ``In later years ... I arrived again at science, when I realised that science was of the very texture of life ...Politics led me to economics, and this led me inevitably to science and the scientific approach to all our problems and to life itself. It is science alone that could solve these problems of hunger and poverty'' Nehru quoted in Jaggi, 1984, p. 190). Again in the Science Policy Resolution of 1958, drafted by Nehru and adopted by Parliament, independent India's first Prime Minister characterised the contribution of science thus: ``Science ...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 has given to civilisation a new vitality and a new dynamism'' (Nehru quoted in Jaggi, 1984, p. 191).
This is not the place for a critical examination of the achievements and problems of science and technology in India. But it is worth noting some major weaknesses which are relevant to our discussion. The weakening over time of the drive for self-reliance has resulted in a gradual downgrading of research and a dissipation of enthusiasm, especially in technology. Another factor retarding the growth of science has been the sheer mass of illiteracy in our society; present trends virtually guarantee that India will begin the twenty-first century with half the world's population of illiterates. The inadequacies of the education system include its weak emphasis on creativity and originality, its failure to promote a critical spirit, and its overemphasis on scholasticism and bookish knowledge to the detriment of purposeful experimentation. Obscurantism, superstition and prejudice mar the functioning of scientific agencies; grants for `research' into the production of rain by yagnas is a significant example. When a total solar eclipse was observed in India a few years ago, many scientists reflected the irrational and superstitious response of large sections of the population. While the current state of science and technology in the country provides us a base for further progress, the structure is still quite fragile. To make matters worse at this juncture, the overall funding for research and universities is being cut savagely.