President Ram Nath Kovind, Governor Ram Naik , CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan at the inauguration of the science festival in Lucknow Saturday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav) President Ram Nath Kovind, Governor Ram Naik , CM Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan at the inauguration of the science festival in Lucknow Saturday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday raised concern over the low participation of women in the field of science and technology. “Out of the 3,446 scientists working at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, only 632 are women. In a week when women scientists won Nobel Prize in the field of physics and chemistry, this is a telling statistics… It is a reminder of the scientific potential of our daughters that we are not adequately harnessing. I realise it is both a social and systematic challenge. But it is our collective responsibility to overcome it,” said Kovind at the inauguration of 4th India International Science Festival (IISF) in Lucknow.

Speaking on the scientific opportunities in India, he showed happiness over the increasing number of scientists returning to India. “I am happy to know that between 2012 and 2017, altogether 649 scientists have returned from abroad to pursue opportunities here. In the five years before that, only 243 had come back. Of course it is not important where scientists are based. The nature of science in important,” said the President.

“Jugaad, cut-paste experiments and frugal innovation have their role. Even so if we are to transform India into a middle-income economy and an advanced industrial power, we need to upgrade the engines of knowledge creation,” Kovind said while calling IISF the “Kumbh Mela of science” and that it is coming together of scientists and technologists of Indian diaspora.

Kovind was joined by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan Singh. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

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