Time ripe for reverse brain drain, says PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India must find ways to encourage the phenomenon of "reverse brain drain" to boost the knowledge economy, attracting the best minds from the Indian diaspora to teach and guide research at the country's leading institutions.

"Some of our brightest students have gone abroad and done well in advanced fields of research. Many of them have been returning home for varying periods of time as visiting faculty at institutions in India. Many are taking up work assignments in private sector research institutions and companies. This reverse brain drain must be encouraged," he said.

Speaking at the concluding session of the platinum jubilee programme of the National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) here, Singh said, "Our visa regime, employment regulations and rules, especially in universities and government institutions, must respond to this new phenomenon."

The UPA government would address these issues so that the country's knowledge economy benefited from the "reverse brain drain."

Referring to the growing privatisation of advanced research in science and technology as well as the role of multinationals in knowledge generation, Singh said the challenge before India was to find new ways to sustain incentives for generation of knowledge, while, at the same time, making it available at affordable prices to poorer nations.

Singh told scientists at the NASI that countries like South Korea and China had "leap-frogged" ahead of India due to their progress in science and technology.

"In recent months, I have encountered growing concern among our scientists that China has overtaken us in the field of science. If this is true, we must ask ourselves why it is so and what we can do about it."

At a function at IIT-Powai, he said, "There is widespread concern about the decline in the standards of research in universities and even in the IITs. A more fundamental challenge is to attract more and better students, both men and women, to the science streams at the school and college levels."

The teaching of science and mathematics in schools and colleges "ought to be made sufficiently interesting for pupils." Pointing out that women were performing "very well" in science at the 10+2 stage, he said, "Our challenge is to encourage girl students to pursue a career in science teaching and research."

Singh, however, was critical of the "disconnect" between research and teaching of science, saying this trend had hampered the growth of inquisitiveness among students. "The university system is unable to mobilise adequate financial and intellectual resources in support of creative research and development effort," he said.

The prime minister later gave away lifetime achievement awards to M G K Menon, P N Tandon, and Manju Sharma for their contribution to NASI.