"We have done precious little"

Do institutions such as the Northeast Regional Institute of Science (NERIST) contribute towards 'science for the northeast', or have they merely remained institutes of 'science in the northeast'?
It cannot be put so simply. However, we cannot deny that when institutions of scientific research came up in the northeast, there was great hope that they would serve the region's specific needs.

What exactly do you mean by 'the region's specific needs'?
We in the northeast are not at the same stage of economic development as people in other parts of the country. Therefore, science here needs to cater to a different kind of developmental need.

Please elaborate
Take my case. I do interesting work. But then, I have to always ask myself if the research I do helps my state, Arunachal Pradesh. I constantly wonder how much of the research at nerist actually contributes to the development of my state. To be frank, I don't think much.

But wouldn't what you say hold true for all research institutes?
Each of them created some knowledge. We all started from scratch. So, whatever has been built up looks quite impressive. But probe a bit more and you will be shocked. We have done precious little for the people of the region. In fact, we have deviated considerably from the ideas of people such as B K Royburman who suggested regional research centres .

Why do you think this has happened?
Part of the blame lies in the way science-funding works. Different national and international agencies and government institutions fund our projects. These bodies have their own set of priorities, which can be quite different from the needs of the northeast. We end up tailoring our projects according to the priorities of our donors. But one can't always blame others. We have also failed to prioritise research needs for northeast India . Had we done that, we could have persuaded donor agencies to fund projects tailored specifically for the northeast.

What are the needs of the region?
Well, the northeast requires a lot of the basics of development: energy, education and water. At the same time, we should always remember that people will never accept technological answers if they don't usher in employment opportunities. I think we should identify certain thrust areas. I am personally keen that we do more research on renewable energy, water harvesting, education, language and the biological wealth of the northeast, at one level. At another, I want to develop tools that turn existing ideas into employment generators.

Could you give an example
I have been working to set up a machine that helps produce husk beer at mass scale. Some might say that's bad for society. I look at this way: many women from the migrant families in Itanagar produce husk beer. It's backbreaking work but it's also the mainstay of many families who have recently migrated to the city. So, one might as well employ them gainfully. The machine I have worked on is more efficient, saves labour and produces good volumes. Its a very localised solution.

At a completely different scale, our regional biological wealth is another area of concern -- it is yet to be documented. There is no basic taxonomy for many of our medicinal plants. We need to index our resources

But what after that?
Yes I know, we cannot stop at that: the knowledge created in research institutions must be used by people and should not be usurped by business interests. So, the next big challenge is to create markets for our innovations. Our research institutes have been found woefully wanting in this respect. I cannot give even one successful example of a research institute in the northeast creating markets for its innovations.

But that would be true of research institutes across the country
I agree. But there should be greater urgency to integrate science at the grassroot level with markets here.

Subscribe to Daily Newsletter :

SUPPORT US

We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.