Message

The National Conference on Showcasing Cutting Edge Science and Technology by Women is a timely wake-up call for drawing the attention of policy makers, academicians and scientists to the vast untapped potential available in our country for harnessing the creativity and entrepreneurship of women scientists for shaping our scientific destiny. It will be useful to recall in this context what Jawaharlal Nehru said in 1947:

"The future belongs to science and those who make friendship with science"

In nearly all convocations of our universities, women scholars are generally the toppers. They also receive the maximum number of medals and other forms of academic recognition. Inspite of this clear evidence of the intelligence and hardworking nature of women scholars, we find that in later life they are not able to contribute to the extent they can and wish to.  Only a small percentage of Fellows of leading National Science Academies are women. Similarly, in the long history of the Indian Science Congress only a few women have been elected as General Presidents. Also, there are very few women Vice Chancellors of Universities and Directors of Scientific Institutions. Why is there such a dichotomy between early promise and the later flowering of the unique capability of women science scholars? We should give careful thought to this issue in order to find ways of ensuring that both women and men scientists contribute equally to advancing the frontiers of science and technology in all fields of human endeavour like agriculture, medicine and industry.

In 1981, when I was Chairman of the Science Advisory Committee to the Cabinet, I had prepared a paper in collaboration with Dr Manju Sharma on the changes in Personnel Policies needed for ensuring equal opportunities for women scientists to make their contributions. An important part of the gender sensitive personnel policy will be to  provide, about five years of leave of absence to a newly married woman scientist in case she opts for early motherhood. On the return of the scientist after attending to the needs of the child in his/ her formative years, the concerned woman scientist should be provided with a paid sabbatical for a year in order to enable her to catch up with the recent advances in science and particularly in the area of scientific instrumentation and analytical techniques.

Women scientists will also need support services like creches and day care centres. This is a national responsibility. In other words, there should be gender friendly arrangements in the laboratory for helping women scientists to cope with the multiple burden on their time, viz., childcare, home keeping and economic activity. In addition to women friendly personnel policies and working facilities, it is also important to create mid-career opportunities for scientifically trained women who, for personal reasons, are unable to continue their scientific career immediately after marriage. Such women professionals may like to take to a career of self employment in the area of science and technology after the children have grown up.

A unique example of such opportunities is the Golden Jubilee Womens' Biotechnology Park at Chennai. This Park was designed to provide women professionals and entrepreneurs an opportunity for taking to the manufacture and marketing of a wide range of biotechnological products. The Park also provides opportunities for women scientists to organize research using advanced molecular techniques as for instance, in the field of diabetes and other diseases. The cultivation of medicinal plants and the formulation of effective herbal medical products have also been undertaken by women biotechnologists. Processing of agriculture products is another market-driven activity. We need to replicate such facilities in a wide range of fields. For example, there are numerous Home Science Colleges and Womens' Universities in our country. All of them should have attached Science and Technology Parks in areas such as nutrition, food science and post-harvest processing and value addition to primary agricultural products. The Food Parks Scheme of the Govt. of India should be fully utilized by Home Science Colleges.

In addition to helping women scientists to playa leading role in cutting edge science and technology, we also need to pay greater attention to Science for Women. For example, Indian agriculture is getting increasingly feminized, due to the out-migration of men particularly in rainfed dry farming areas. At a recent Virtual Congress of Mahila Kisans held at the Andhra University on Jan 5, 2008, on the occasion of the Indian Science Congress, Mahila Kisans from different parts of the country pleaded for gender friendly agricultural implements which can reduce drudgery and enhance productivity per unit of time and labour. What rural women need are opportunities for skilled employment which can help to reduce the number of hours of work and improve income per hour of work.

Women scientists and technologists in particular should take greater interest in improving the quality of life of women belonging to the socially and economically underprivileged sections of the society. There are immense opportunities for improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of crop and animal husbandry, marine and inland fisheries and forestry and agro- forestry through the technological empowerment of rural women.

In fact the future of agriculture in our country will largely depend upon the steps taken to empower rural women with new technical skills and scientific knowledge.

The National Conference is appropriately considering the contributions of women scientists in the areas of human disease control, nutrition enhancement, managing climate change, nano-technology, plant biotechnology and aerospace and defence technology. These are areas where contributions of great scientific and social significance are being made by women professionals. Their contributions should wake us all up and stimulate the major governmental and non-governmental scientific organisations to enlarge opportunities for women professionals and adopt recruitment and personnel policies based on the equal opportunity principle.

I hope this unique conference will mark the beginning of a Women in Science and Science for Women Movement in our country leading to benefits not only in the areas of science and technology, but also in the removal of gender prejudices which are today resulting in unacceptable distortions in sex ratios among children at birth in several parts of our country.  Women scientists should take the lead in spreading scientific literacy and in removing superstitions and irrational action.

M S Swaminathan