Kerala: Research Scholars Discouraged From ‘Irrelevant And Repeated’ Topics, Varsity Advisory Riles Up ‘Creative’ Folk

A Central University of Kerala (CUK) directive on 13 March to all heads of departments has caused a flutter in academic circles. It basically urged faculty and students to not waste time on irrelevant research and instead focus on issues of national relevance and importance, reports The Hindu.

Reference was being made to a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the University Grants Commission and the Central University of Kerala, which was discussed at a meeting of V-Cs in Delhi in December 2018.

Officials, however, put things into perspective by saying that valuable national resources were being spent on areas of research which did not result in the arrival of solutions for issues of national importance.

G Gopakumar, V-C of CUK, said, “In many State and Central universities, research topics are often repeated. Of the entire GDP, less than 3 per cent is spent on higher education, and less than 1.5 per cent on research. We need to take up research in topics like nanotechnology, pharma, IT, engineering, nuclear science, etc. where we have the potential to grow and add real value.”

Others, however, say that such advisories are an “interference” in the academic affairs of students and teachers. “How does one decide what is relevant and irrelevant,” asks an academician who served as a vice-chancellor of a Central university.

He said that while there was no clear definition of “national priority”, such mandates serve only to stifle “creative ratiocination”.

K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the government, said in an email, “The notice from the Registrar, Central University, Kerala, could have been worded slightly better to capture the spirit and purpose on this matter.”

He said most research works in the country were of pedestrian nature and did not provide answers to fundamental questions of national or world-importance.