It is indeed a moment of pride for Indians to see Ramakrishnan sharing the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The last time an Indian in India won a Nobel Prize was C V Raman in 1930. Since then no one in India has won a Nobel Prize in Science.

 

We have come a long way since 1930. Though leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru envisioned better research in India while creating premier institutes like IITs and IIMs, yet even now, they have not fulfilled their mission. Of course, they churn out some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. Check any successful Indian company, and chances are there will be an IITian among its top executives. Talk about experienced entrepreneurs and successful organisations, and several names from IITs and IIMs crop up. These things require the kind of facilities which are only now becoming available to us in India.

 

There is also the the efficiency with which Chandrayaan and numerous space and defence programmes are being handled. But, these are developments in technology and its application to a specific end. We are yet to see any great flourishing of basic research.

 

Of late, very few institutions undertake serious research in India. The country's universities are more successful business ventures and examination conducting machines that feed data but are incapable to trigger the thought processes and inquisitiveness to go beyond the classrooms and text books. Expanding the frontiers of knowledge is not a priority for Indian academia.

 

Papers are published for the sake of personal or professional achievement. Very few of these papers are cited by other researchers around the world. A yawning gap exists between teaching done in universities and research houses in specialised research centres.

 

Moreover, due to the lack of proper encouragement, facilities and pay, the brightest minds flee to other countries. Universities and research organisations do not interact. Faculty pay is at a steep discount to what comparable skills would fetch in industry, ensuring that very few of those who fill academic posts embody first rate talent.

 

Though, we have many well equipped institutions such as IIT,IISC etc, the amount of time, money and energy spent on such research is less. This is because the above mentioned conditions ensure that there nothing to profit from this type of research. A large amount of people aim at learning for money or at least end up in such a situation.

 

Very few study in the prospect of gaining knowledge and continue to educate themselves. Only such kind of sustained passion leads to such recognition as Noble Prize, like CV Raman.

 

The only solution for such a situation is to develop cutting edge technology. We already have the brains but, lack in money and the equipment. More discouraging is the recent row on the salary hikes of the professors of IITs. The Nobel Prize for Ramakrishnan will surely spark the fire in the minds of many young researchers and students. But who will make sure they don't flee to the other lands of opportunities to fulfill their dream?