Going back in time, in the medieval times, India was the land of Gold. Kingdoms of Mahajanapadas are the example of Golden era. The use of the Gold coins, the armies, the trade and economic well being, everything added to the glory of the country. Contrary to the fact, that India was a Golden Bird at the medieval era; at the time of Independence it was a backward country with widespread poverty and low literacy rate.
From one of the richest country of the world to a developing nation, the Indian economy witnessed a downfall. The blame will be on the kings and the rulers of that time who were reluctant to welcome the scientific and technological advancement. The Guttenberg press, one of the most revolutionary inventions of medieval times was rejected by the great Emperor Akbar. Jahangir rejected the water lift. The mariners were not adventurous to venture the large oceans. Following the traditional style could never compete with the dynamic world.
Importance of Science and Technology
Every second, a new technology takes birth around the corner of the world. The modern age is the Age of Science and technology. Science is a theoretical phenomenon which revolves around the cause and effect relationship, while, the technology is the practical application of scientific knowledge in day to day working.
India is a developing nation. It is already suffering from many internal and external problems and to cope up with all these problems, scientific advancement and technological use in every field should be adopted. To stand abreast to the developed nation, this developing country needs to improve and adopt the new technologies.
Adopting the use of science and technology in India is not an easy task as much of its population still believes in using the traditional techniques. These traditional techniques consume a lot of time and do not give adequate results. Today, India has achieved a lot because of all the baby steps it took since the time of independence.
Provision in the Constitution
The Constitution of India in Article 51 A of Chapter Fundamental duties provides to develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of enquiry. Therefore, the Constitution of India has imposed a duty of scientific research along with all the other duties. A space should be provided to its entire citizen for scientific and technological development.
Growth of GDP
The growth of a nation is measured in the terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDI is the money value of the aggregate goods and services produced within the boundaries of the nation during a financial year. Each and every sector of the economy contributes to the GDP. The agricultural sector, industrial and manufacturing sector, service sector etc. contributes to the GDP of the country. Science and technology is the medium through which the stagnant growth can be overcome.
Growth in primary sector
At the time of independence, India was depended on foreign countries to meet its food requirement. The foreign government often attached political strings to their food aid and this did hurt the national pride. The Government of India formulated and focused on the Five Year Plan for the development of the country.
The Leaders were determined to make India self sufficient. They believed that if the country becomes self reliant, than there will be employment in the entire country. For this purpose, the government took many initiative steps to make people use science and technology in the field of agriculture.
India was in a phase where the population was growing at a speed of bullet but the productivity from cultivation was stagnant. The productivity could be increased only with the use of science. The country decided to implement the techniques of Green Revolution. This technology improved the seed water fertiliser for technological breakthrough.
This revolution turned out to be helpful for India as it increased the food grains production manifold in turn making India self sufficient to meet its domestic demands. The Green Revolution helped the agricultural sector to increase production by using improved quality of seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides, improved agricultural practices, tractors, harvesters, irrigation techniques and much more.
Though India receives around the highest amount of rainfall but the fact is it is a water scare country. Therefore for this reason the government encouraged the micro irrigation techniques. Use of bio-metrics in PDS should be used to prevent leakage.
The government has initiated many large scale multipurpose river valley projects which made the double as well as the multiple cropping possible in many regions. There are many methods through which the farmers get to know about the climatic conditions, weather forecast, good practices, and incentives of government, about various schemes operating in their region etc. Science help in disaster warning, crop survey and marketing.
Science can help the nation to reduce poverty as the development of agriculture has highest impact on poverty. As we are aware that the farmers commit suicide at a very large number, so, there is a need to include social and economic techniques along with science and technology. Therefore, science is essential but it’s not the panacea.
The industrial Sector
After the industrial revolution in nineteenth century at England, animal power was replaced with the powers like steam, electric, motor, solar etc. and the manual workers were replaces with machines. Today we are surrounded with all the gadgets which are given by the scientific and technological development.
The machines we use today in our factories or other places for the production purpose has improved the quality and the quantity of final product and made them available within the reach of common man. Therefore after this transformation we now see the application of science and technology in every sphere of the production process and practices.
This transformation has also made the products available at cheaper rates. The market even provides a variety of different products from which a consumer can choose one as per his requirements and budget. Thus, science and technology played a huge role to uplift the traditional industrial sector and coloured it with the shades of science and technology.
The service sector
The Information Technology (IT) revolution is a well known example of the service sector. Science and technology has made a prominent place at insurance, banking, transportation, tourism etc. The technology today, have made the communication easier, the resources of education has increased, and monetary transactions are possible just with a click.
Harmful effects of Science
As said by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, that “science is a beautiful gift to humanity; we should not destroy it”. The human mind is blessed with the ultimate power to think and apply the principals of science in each and every field. The weapons of mass destruction which has the ability to eat up the whole earth are also the contribution of scientific and technological researches. These weapons are boon and bane together.
The benefit of having a nuclear weapon is that it deter the other countries from using the same, because if used, there will be no one left to celebrate the victory. Making out the result about who won and who loses will be difficult as the states have all the powers to counter the attacks of other states.
The biggest disadvantage of the nuclear weapons is they have the ability to destroy all that the humans have done on this earth so far. Apart from nuclear weapons there are many other kinds of weapons available with the countries. They are the ballistic missiles; cruise missiles etc. which are dangerous for are environment. These missiles are tested in the environment which harms our biosphere.
The use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides are increasing day by day. The food and fruits we eat today are not as health as we think. They are filled with poison which will affect the human race in long run. The usage is not only harmful for the humans but it is responsible for degrading the quality of the soil.
The multipurpose river valley projects that are working today are the reason for the displacement of humans and also the killers of many animals and insects residing at that place.
The industrial growth which we praise and the increase in transport facilities which we cherish have contributed to global warming. Not only this, they are responsible for polluting the environment.
Today we are in state where there is scarcity of many useful resources, because of excessive use of science and technology in every field. The level of ground water in many parts of India is at a verge of extinction. The ice caps of mountains and other glaciers are melting making the water level rise.
The ozone layer is depleting. Our mother earth is burning. The temperature is making a new record every year. Unusual disasters are occurring across the world and science is responsible for much of this.
Science and technology can be harmful and can even flourish any economy, it all depends of us how we use everything. The lands on which we reside are not ours but we owe it from our future generation. It is our responsibility to give it back to them in a healthy condition.
The science should be used for betterment of present and the future and not for exploitation. Like a coin which has two facets, the use of science and technology is also capable of giving two opposite type of results, one which can help the human race to progress and the other which will also help the humans to progress but will come with other turmoil and tragedy, this choice is all ours.