New Delhi, February 12: Union minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that the Scientific Social Responsibility policy is proposed to be put before the Cabinet very soon. The proposed policy aimed to fix Scientific Social Responsibility on scientists in India will make it mandatory for scientists to popularise science among school and college students.

Speaking during the Question Hour, Vardhan said, "The policy is about Scientific Social Responsibility for scientists...a policy which is proposed to be put before the Cabinet very soon." Harsh Vardhan Lashes Out at Opposition Leaders Over Their Comments on Covaxin, Says 'Disgraceful For Anyone to Politicise Such Critical Issue'.

This particular policy, the Science and Technology minister said, follows a suggestion or an appeal made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scientists of the country at the Indian Science Congress in 2017.

"And he has asked scientists that apart from the fact that they are doing their research on various subjects...and trying to help the country through various means...it should have a very good quality...the outcome of the research should be people centric...it should also be people-centric and that is how this term Scientific Social Responsibility was first time coined by the prime minister," the minister said.

The prime minister had in fact made a general appeal that scientists should always be working for the welfare of the people at the grassroots level. They should help students do something over and above what they are doing within their laboratories and institutions, he said.

"So taking a clue from the great suggestion that he had given and the motivating speech he had given we have tried to institutionalise this concept in the form of the Scientific Social Responsibility policy in which we are providing provisions and suggestions for everyone," the minister explained.

"It is purely a voluntary thing.... and there are various level of suggestions that are being given for various level of people within the institutions," he said.

The minister also said that the budget allocation for research in this country has improved. From the sixth position, we have come down to the third position in terms of our patents and scientific publications, among others.

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