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Jai Vigyan is all fine, but how about raising our retirement age, ask scientists

Scientists have decided to cash in on the goodwill accruing to their community from the nuclear tests to demand a raise in their retirement age from 60 to 65.

The arguments put forward by the All India Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations in favour of their demand are scientific.

For one, the average life expectancy since Independence has increased. This is one of the reasons cited by the government for increasing the retirement age of all civilian and armed forces officers without discrimination, from 58 to 60 years.

But by making a virtue out of necessity, the government also saved itself payment of lump-sum dues in the vicinity of Rs 120 billion over the next two years and diverted it to other uses.

According to AFIOSTA president Dr B V Reddi, the government could apply the same logic to raise the age of scientists to 65 years and make things convenient for itself, the scientists and Indian science itself.

By retiring scientists early, the government was losing out on the rich knowledge and experience they gain through professional or specialised courses and intensive research and development activities.

Dr Reddi points out that in many other countries including China, the brain power of scientific and technical people up to the age of 65 and even beyond is utilised and the results are there to see in terms of rapid economic growth.

In contrast, the true intellectual potential of Indian scientists never got a chance to flower because of the relatively short period of government service they put in thanks to their late entry and early retirement.

The late entry is caused by the longer period of training and post-doctoral research that a scientist has to undergo before entering government service as compared to other government servants.

Currently, scientific and medical specialists enjoy the benefit of extension up to the age of 62 years but this has led to charges of discrimination and favouritism and has not helped in the improvement of scientific temper in the country.

Dr Reddi said the government should act without delay on the demand of the scientists because of the threat to the country from sanctions and other tactics adopted by the Western world.

Only the proper application of science can help in the alleviation of the eradication of illiteracy and improvement in living standards, Dr Reddi said, adding that these causes can best be served by adopting methods which maximise the utilisation of India's existing brain power.

UNI

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