PM praises Bengal's contribution to science

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today praised the contribution to India’s scientific pursuit by scientists from West Bengal while opening the centenary year of the Indian Science Congress Association in Kolkata. “I am delighted to join you at this ceremony to formally declare open the centenary year of the Indian Science Congress Association,” Singh, who is also the General President for the centenary year, told the gathering.[caption id=“attachment_330015” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Praising the doyens. Image courtesy PIB”]  [/caption] The prime minister said that even with limited scientific knowledge he accepted to become the president of the centenary year to signal the seriousness of his government towards excellence in science. “… as a layman, my ability to lead the Association in the complex realm of science would be limited. Eventually, what made me decide to foray into the affairs of this privileged association was a judgment, made with humility and sincerity, that by accepting the onerous responsibility I would signal the full support and commitment of the government to Indian science as it passes through a critical decade of innovation,” he said. Singh also quoted former vice chancellor of Calcutta University, Ashutosh Mukherjee, to augment his viewpoint. " ‘……even the most enlightened governments occasionally require to be reminded of the full extent of the paramount claims of science upon the public funds’", the prime minister said quoting Mukherjee. “It is entirely befitting that we are in the hallowed portals of the University of Calcutta to celebrate the centenary. It was here that the Indian Science Congress Association took roots under the leadership of Ashutosh Mukherjee,” Singh said. “In many senses, modern science in India was nurtured in this city. I congratulate the city of Kolkata for nourishing an environment of learning and producing some of the country’s outstanding scientists, mathematicians and economists, including many of our Nobel laureates,” he said. “I propose that the technical programmes of the Indian Science Congress in Kolkata in January 2013 begin with a special lecture in honour of Shri Ashutosh Mukherjee, who personified the national science movement that took shape a hundred years ago,” the prime minister said. “The theme for this year’s Congress is ‘Science for Shaping the Future of India’. It is a theme that might have resonated just as well a hundred years ago when the Association came into being. I am happy that we have chosen this Centenary Year to declare the Year of Science in India. We should all work to make a success of it,” he said.