Jawaharlal Nehru, as Prime Minister of India for seventeen
years since the beginning of independence molded the character
of modern India. Science was an essential component of modern
India which he sought and worked so hard to build. So great
was his zeal for science and for the scientific approach
to life that he missed no opportunity to express his views,
thoughts to others. For Jawaharlal Nehru, the supreme task
of the age was to lift mankind from its age-old state of
base subsistence to a social level which provided security,
material progress and the opportunities for a higher life
to all.
Nehru had a scientific approach to India’s
social and economical problems. He believed in enlightenment
and was a votary of reason and emancipation of the intellect.
His scientific attitude made him an exponent of modernism.
Nehru wanted India to accept the scientific approach which
is the sole antidote to medievalism, priesthood, ecclesiasticism.
Nehru established a number of important scientific
institutions to encourage growth of science in the nation.
He established Indian Institutes of Technology, National Physical
and Chemical Laboratories and other central laboratories for
research on wide-ranging scientific areas such as food, drugs,
technology, electronics and engineering.
