Claiming that technological inventions in the past few years have not benefitted the masses, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today exhorted the scientific community to connect to people and use their work for public welfare.
Addressing a gathering of scientists, industrialists and students on the occasion of 'Technology Day' here, the minister also advised the community to seek inspiration from India's historians and scientists, who worked in "adverse conditions".
"So many things have been invented, so many discoveries have been made (in the recent past). They have been done 10 years back, 5 years back. But when we look into the fact that how many of those would get converted into systems and mechanisms where they can actually be connected with the people, with the welfare of mankind.
"Then I find that hard work is not being connected to people the way it should have connected by now. Science and research and the publications and the patents they probably have not much of a meaning. They can give you pleasure, ecstatic pleasure but unless we can connect them with the people. This is a time when we need to have a look at everything," he said.
The Union Minister of Science and Technology also quoted grandson of Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi, considered as the 'Father of Wireless Technology', advising researchers to draw inspiration from the past.
"This is a wonderful experience for me since Jagdish Chandra Bose actually performed the first wireless experiment before the death of my grandfather Guglielmo Marconi. Many thanks for your hospitality and I appreciate the honour," the minister quoted Francesco Marconi as saying in Kolkata a few years ago.
Vardhan also suggested scientists to ensure proper co-ordination among themselves. He said during his visits to laboratories in his six-month tenure in the department, he found that scientists in the country are engaged in same research and are unaware of what others are up to.
The leader also stated that more women should take up the technology field as they are found to be "more sincere than men".
