World Raw Materials Trade-Trends and Forecast for 1974-1980


In this manner, the scientific community would develop a national identity.
PERIPHERAL SUGGESTIONS There appears to he am implicit assumption running through the entire hook that in India it is scientists who set the tone for science as a social activity. The fact of the elitist "top brass" cornering the choicest parts of the take and conversely creating the wretched working conditions of the majority of scientists, according to the author, stands in the way of science becoming a tool for social transformation. One may not object to improving the working conditions of scientists and their inclusion in debates on organisation and policy. But will these reforms by -themselves make Indian science dynamic and relevant to the country's problems? Will higher salaries make for greater consciousness among scientists who are a privileged class anyway in a country where economic and educational disparities are so pronounced? Democratisation of the scientific structure cannot by itself have any fundamental impact upon the direction of scientific activity in this country and its role in economic development For in the ultimate analysis who are the decision-makers and in whose interests are the decisions made? Ultimately are scientists autonomous or are they willy-nilly part of the industrial and/or government machinery as long as they are dependent upon private industry or the government for jobs? In an unchanged social frame, Rahman's suggestions can only be peripheral and in no way fundamental. It is only a change in social structure, when; science can play a more integrated and dynamic role, that can create the conditions for a socially relevant and purposeful scientific community. To bring about this transformation scientists alone arc not the agents. So fat- as scientists are concerned, the conditions for a more relevant role would be created when they along with other politicised and active sections of society become conscious of the futility of their activity in the present socio economic environment In the underdeveloped countries with their foreign-aided, "mixed-up" economies, where government does all the funding for scientific research, the social role of the scientist is far more significant than his professional role. When a scientist is able to analyse, understand and feel concerned about the nature of his society, he can reach out to other groups and work towards an egalitarian society where science will truly become a tool for a better life and where his research will acquire meaning.