Indian Express, 20 March 1994

THE CRADLE IS THE GRAVE

Professor C B S R Sharma

They should be the foundation from which science and its progress draw their sustenance.
They are cesspools of all that is wrong with India ---corruption, nepotism, power-broking,
petty politicking, unaccountability. They are the Universities, whose alumni determine what
happens to India.

Where is Indian science headed?’ The Jaipur Science Congress late last year reopened that
never-ending debate and the chapter wasn’t closed till it ate up reels of newsprint. To be
sure, such introspection is not only vital for the system, it introduces a much-needed sense of
realism into our intellectual discourse. However, these debates ignored the foundation on which
it derives its sustenance—the Universities. Hence, this critique is directed specifically at the
‘dark forces’ who dominate the universities.

It was pointed out, for instance, that if evaluation was limited to counting nuts and bolts, India
would seem to have achieved self-sufficiency. But this leaves unanswered basic questions.
All the success stories doled out related to target-oriented systems -- richly endowed with
funds, foreign training and collaborations. Again, the canvas was limited to CSIR and the
Government labs. To reiterate the point, left out was the major player in the Indian science
scene--- the 200 Universities.

Unlike the labs, the universities churn out thousands of students who are supposed to work
for the improvement of science and Indian society as a whole. If anything can be held
responsible for the current state affairs, these universities should be. This conviction arose
considering the atmosphere of ‘non-science’(or is it anti-science!) prevailing in our campuses
and the incalculable damage they cause to out society individually and cumulatively.

The genepool of our scientists and teachers is less than five per cent of our population, a
residue from a variety of dropouts. There’s part of the population which has no access to
education, there’s the other part who are dropouts for economic reasons, eliminated in
competition. Even after such a depressingly massive scale of dropouts, what remains is—sadly
—not known to behave with accountability towards the society.

The acts of the upper classes—whether urban or feudal—are determined, either way, by
their consciousness of or proximity to power, affluence and domination. This is true in all cases
unless burdens of morality or idealism of some kind play spoilsport. As a self-sustaining
mechanism, they form coteries to weave up a spoils systems which graduates into a mafia
culture.

Unaccountability and intolerance of dissent by these forces are buttressed by a social milieu
that tolerates and promotes hedonistic pursuits. Ethics, equity and empathy do not come
from such vacuums unless one is rooted in Gandhian or Marxist philosophical traditions
either at the familial level or through a rare company of righteous people, such a political
economy of the knowledge systems will naturally have great bearing on the social
responsibility they evince and, subsequently, on their professional output.

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The human resources of the entire country is derived from the stock of teachers and scientists.
They pass through the 200 institutions of higher education—deemed universities, State and
Central universities and autonomous institutions. The leaders of these systems—Vice
chancellors, directors, deans, professors and faculty members—are accountable for the
destruction of science and scientific temper in India.

Some big-wigs have tried to wriggle our from the onus on them by arguing that universities
are mere sub-systems which reflects the rest of society. From a historical perspective, this
cannot be accepted. When all else fails in society, universities and intellectuals alone remain
custodians of virtue to initiate Renaissance. In fact, the onus is all the more on them. If not,
why should society then invest in knowledge and gaining of wisdom?

The general atmosphere of a campus now is one of scandals on faculty recruitment and
performance, student training and evaluation, research projects and degrees, fund attraction and
spending, composition and performance of university bodies, styles of life of executives and
academics, and self-propelling politics.

The absence of accountability in India is a culture that begins from universities. Many vice-
chancellors are legislature, juciciary and executive all rolled into one! They are also parents or
parents in-law for the favourites and prosecutor, judge and jailer—all-in-one—for the marked
few. Royal lifestyles, a phoney business and suave manners characterise them. The
accomplishments they fit into their tenure are, on an average, things like buying a Contessa,
refurbishing their quarters and office, building a house, recruiting sons and sons-in-laws,
acquiring land and jewellery or conducting marriages of their kids.

Sometimes, they introduce new departments, courses, systems and strengthen their fort for
another term, a third and even a fourth elsewhere. One such feudal lord once advised that
funds are more important than institutions and truth! Another was found debunking a
department of his our university in the media (as if the boot is not on his own legs), a prelude to
some ulterior action unfolding in future. Such are the political mechanisms abounding in
academic institutions!

Despite having left teaching and research ages ago, some bosses continue to be a dollar
currency—in State capitals or at Delhi for UGC, CSIR, ICAR, DST, DBT’s work and not
spending over two or three days per week at their headquarters. They ignore UGC committee
reports, including those on curricula and question, banks of AIU. They complain of funds
while squandering money in myriad ways, including lifting up from one head in the budget to
another at will.

Some rarely taught, always managed—funds, labs, equipment, guests, students etc. Recently I
saw a vice chancellor co-authoring papers with his faculty, When there were other burdens of
responsibility all around. Careers are carried on to assured lengths, age no bar. All that is
condemnable and lamentable in India pales into insignificance before the performers of our
universities.

Research of repetitive, irrelevant, unnecessary, plagiaristic and fraudulent types dominate the
university scene. But these assure slavish students, funds and a name—an empire in short.
They publish and prosper—teaching, training and student welfare are secondary issues
perpetually shoved backward. On the other hand, what we have are the sordid tales that go
hand in hand with registration for research degrees, guides and supervisors, work ethics,
outputs, evaluation and awarding degrees.

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The Indian carpet has an unsurpassable ability to hold dirt under it. Vice-chancellors partronise
them for obvious reasons. Some of them even lobby at Delhi for the projects of their favourites
and scuttle the plans and progress of others. The mafia culture pervades our body academic.

Finances are much misused. Most mega-projects are while elephants helping the awardee get
rich quick and build a self-perpetuating empire. From here one enters the national or regional
coterie. Getting your hands on a projects will be the first benefit from such an entry! If
research funds are cut drastically, no great harm will be done. Financial operations in the
universities reveal a wizardry unheard of even in the scam. The new industry—academic
consultancies—are fast becoming mutual help complexes. Political, bureaucratic, academic
and industrial nexus will soon entrench itself in society. Corruption will be taught in the cradle
itself.

Most bosses do not try to consolidate existing good practices; rather, they try to meddle
with them. Coteries of seniors groom successors among the juniors to fill up future vacancies.
Conscientious members are are in the system: even if there were, they do not remain so. They
gravitate towards one or the other lobby for they know their bread, like that of the others,
ultimately would have neither the convictions nor the courage to express dissent.

It is over such a system and over such subjects that most professors, directors, deans and
vice chancellors like to rule. They create hells to serve in heavens abroad. The same ethos is
inherited by the juniors.

Nehru used to say “if the universities, discharge their duties well, all will be well with India.”
In retrospect, this is proving true in converse! In such a situation, what chance do science
or its admittedly noble goals have?

(Excerpted from a paper---titled ‘Science Perishes and Scientists

Flourish’—by the author, a Senior Professor at Salim Ali School
of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University)