Reflecting on 75 years of Independence makes one proud of the socio-economic developments of our country. The long period of colonial rule had robbed India of most of its wealth, and, more importantly, the skills required to sustain economic growth. Starting off as a poor country in 1947, with its GDP a mere ₹2.7 lakh crore, and food grain production a meagre 50 million tonnes, the challenges of educating the people, feeding the population, implementing democracy, promoting industry and trade, and ensuring the country’s security remained daunting. It is against this backdrop that the responsibility of developing the science, technology and innovation ecosystem fell upon the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which had been founded in 1942.
The immediate priority of the CSIR was to establish a number of national laboratories under its umbrella, and also promote similar organisations independently. The CSIR started five of its own laboratories with support from the government and industry and raising resources through crowdsourcing. Similarly, in collaboration with the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Government of Bombay, the Government of India (through the CSIR) started the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, with the CSIR providing substantial financial support in the initial years.
Among the first examples of finding science and technology-based solutions was the harmonisation of existing varied calendar systems. A committee under the Chairmanship of Meghnad Saha was formed to address this issue. The committee’s report was published by the CSIR in 1955, which then led to its acceptance as the national calendar, now one of the national identity elements. Another example in the early years of Independence was to address the challenges in conducting democratic elections — preventing frauds, including double voting by the same person. The CSIR’s National Physical Laboratory developed the indelible ink made up of silver nitrate to address this concern. The indelible ink is used even today and exported to many countries, undoubtedly remaining one of the prized gifts of the CSIR to the nation.
