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Approach

• Define Scientific Social Responsibility
• Discuss the role of it in catering to various needs of Indian society
• Conclude by highlighting its significance for social and economic progress

Answer

Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) is ‘the ethical obligation of knowledge workers in all fields of science and technology to voluntarily contribute their knowledge and resources to the widest spectrum of stakeholders in society, in a spirit of service and conscious reciprocity’.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has drafted a Scientific Social Responsibility policy on the lines of the mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility model for the country’s scientific community.

As per the draft policy, every “knowledge worker” has to devote at least 10 person-days each year to scientific social responsibility activity, which can include giving lectures in schools and colleges, sharing infrastructure, conducting skill development workshops, and coming up with solutions to local environmental or health issues. Beneficiaries can include students, school and college teachers, local bodies, communities, women’s groups, NGOs and MSMEs, among others.

Role of scientific social responsibility policy in Indian society

• Scientific Social Responsibility will create linkages between science and society. Scientific institutes have certain resources at their disposal, both infrastructural as well as knowledge-based, and these resources can be used to develop new direct interfaces with society.
• With increased exposure to society, scientists will gain knowledge about the kind of research and inventions that are required in the country right now.
• Scientific Social Responsibility is not only about the scientific impact upon society but also about the social impact on science. Scientific Social Responsibility would therefore strengthen the knowledge ecosystem and bring efficiencies in harnessing science for the benefit of society.
• It would create an opportunity for cooperation and sharing of S&T resources in laboratories with other researchers in universities and colleges.
• It would also help in identifying the best practices and success models for replication with a multiplier effect in the country.
• Facilitating scientific intervention in rural innovation is the need of the hour, given the myriad challenges faced by our rural population, which includes detrimental effects of climate change, unemployment, and lack of infrastructure. SSR can serve this need.

The progress of a nation depends on the extent to which scientific thinking has permeated the society. The interaction between science and society is imperative for socio-economic development and transforming the everyday life of citizens. SSR also fulfils the aim of cultivating scientific temperament, mentioned under the fundamental duties in our Constitution.