AN APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN-RESOURCES IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA

Higher education has made great strides over the period 1950 to 1996. In the past 50 y, India has simultaneously emphasized on primary, seco ndary, and tertiary levels of education for its people. The programmes to support doctoral and postdoctoral education have led to a stock of scientists and engineers that amounts to on an average about two pers ons holding bachelor, master and/or doctorate degree in science, agric ulture, engineering and medical sciences for 1000 living persons. The ongoing programmes for sustaining the growth of highly educated person nel for R&D in science and engineering need further emphasis in view o f the declining trend in the interest of fresh graduates to take up do ctoral and postdoctoral programmes in the sciences. The skills of the scientists and engineers manning the research institutions have to be kept sharpened through suitable arrangements for their training and re training. Interaction of the universities and R&D institutions must be improved for the latter to more actively participate in the S&T human resource development. The industry should shoulder the expenditure on S&T related tertiary education.