Bharat Ratna awardee Prof Rao slams politicians over funding

Bangalore, Nov 18: Eminent scientist CNR Rao, who has been conferred with the coveted

award recently along with ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday lashed out at the politicians for giving little due to the scientists.

Addressing a press conference here a day after the declaration on the award was made, Rao, who is also the chairman of the prime minister's scientific advisory council, rued that the government funding for the scientific work was inadequate and sought more resources for research purposes.

The scientist was also disappointed with India's progress in comparison to China, saying Indian researcher are not as hard-working as the Chinese. He said in 2014, China will top the table with nearly 17 per cent of world research publications, which is more even than the USA. In India, the quantity has remained stuck at 2-3 per cent. He termed India as the worst, adding that while others were raising their standards, Indians are struggling with funding issue.

Prof Rao said the Indian researchers are not as hard-working as the Chinese

The 79-year-old professor was also dissatisfied with the focus given on the IT sector in Karnataka. He said the state is not performing since people are running after the money in the IT sector. He said the IT sector has unhappy people working in it.

Later, while speaking to a news channel, Rao said the government should use at least 2 per cent of the GDP in scientific research and hoped that his outburst would bring back some focus to the sector.

OneIndia News