New Delhi: Bharat Ratna awardee and eminent scientist C N R Rao today said the financial contribution of industry towards the development of science in the country has not been on the levels of what has taken place in the Western countries.
"The industry has to support (science), which has not happened till now. Most of the science money has come from the government. In the US or Cambridge, about 40-45 per cent of the money comes from the industry.
"Here 90 per cent is supported by the government. So I think the entire society has to take interest in science," Rao said in a discussion at the NDTV Solutions summit here.
The noted scientist added that the position of science as a discipline in India is at the bottom of the value system in the society.
"Science is very down in the value system in India. How much does the Indian society respect science? Science comes at the bottom of the list... If science has to succeed they have to have a better support," he said.
To compete with the rest of the world, India has to create institutions where young people can work enthusiastically, he felt.
Nobel laureate and biologist Venkataraman Ramakrishnan said India must invest in molecular biology to take giant strides in progress and must focus on its own intellectual property.
Noted agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan expressed concern over the stagnation in agricultural research.
"Our country still has large untapped production reservoir and there is an urgent need to tap its potential to bring a second green revolution," Swaminathan, also know as the father of the green revolution in India, added.
Tata Consultancy Services CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran emphasised that a majority of India`s problems can be solved with technology.
"IT has a huge role to play, particularly in dealing with corruption. It will bring in transparency, everything will be real-time," he added.
On the need to develop teaching in the country, Rao said he has approached the Planning Commission to develop a programme of making teaching a national mission in the country for the next five years.
