A V Hill Report (1944) to Kasturirangan’s NEP (2019) : 75 years of S & T in India

Nobel Laureate Archibald Vivian Hill (1886-1977) was an extraordinary scientist, a visionary science planner and a British MP. He was invited in 1943 by the then Indian Government at the instance of science leaders, like, Megh Nad Saha, S P Agharkar, S S Bhatnagar, P C Mahanalobis, J C Ghosh, S K Mitra, J N Mukherjee, S S Sokhey, D M Bose, Homi Bhabha et. al. to advise on the scientific and industrial research in India. Indian scientific leadership had already debated at length the organizational model of S & T for post-war independent India. Hill extensively toured for over four months from Nov 16, 1943 to April 5, 1944, and submitted a report in August 1944 which imbibed the aspirations brought to his attention. He gave elaborate work plans for implementation in all areas. He also interfaced with the members of the Sargent committee entrusted with the responsibility of conceiving a plan for the post-war reorganization of education in India.  A summary of the Hill report was evented in Nature (155, 532-535 (1945)). His visit facilitated the release of funds to establish five national laboratories under CSIR, endorsement of the need to create  National Research Council, initiation of  Department of Planning and Development, office of Scientific Advisor to Defense, ICMR, ICAR, AICTE, the appointment of Sarkar Committee for IITs, the conception of AIIMS, University Grants Committee (1945) ( pre-cursor of  University Education Commission under S Radhakrishnan (1948)). A V Hill had especially recommended the initiation of a fully supported overseas fellowship scheme to enable one thousand scholars to study abroad in all areas. V Kurien, Brahm Prakash, Satish Dhawan, Hargobind Khorana, Nitya Nand et al. became some of the well-known beneficiaries of that scheme. It is serendipity that developments relating to science and technology and education and research over subsequent seventy-five years in India form a single chain which includes the creation of UGC (1956), Kothari Commission (1964), Mehrotra Committee (1983), NPE (1986), National Knowledge Commission (2005), Yash Pal Committee (2008) and Narayanamurthy Committee (2011) with Kasturirangan’s NEP 2019 representing the recent link. This evolution of education policy is the ultimate tribute to the consensus and continuity originally envisioned by the eminent Indian academics in pre-independent India and implemented by them and their students and grand students in the post-independent India.

*Commemorating 75 years of TIFR (1945-2020) and Centenary of PEC (1921-2021)