By Vijay Garg
THERE is a close relationship between research and development. The policies for development work are made on the basis of the results of the research departments. Therefore, research done in academic institutions is important from the point of view of overall development of the country. While discussing the science policy, Professor Jayant Vishnu Nalaukar said that the Government of India and various governments have established many research institutes to give direction to science and other research, so that a scientist can become a scientist with freedom of thought and action. able to operate in an autonomous environment. But the administration of these institutions, the decline of research jobs for young scientists, the neglect of science and social science subjects in universities and the comparatively low prestige of experts working in these areas are some of the aspects that are facing the development of India’s knowledge economy present a serious challenge.
The quality of research done in academic institutions has been questioned for the past few years. Also, none of our universities has been able to achieve high rank in the global ranking. In such a situation, it is natural to ask whether the condition of research in higher educational institutions and universities is really so bad that it lacks elements like innovation, innovation, validity? If so, why? Is this something to think about?
In the year 2020, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of scientific researches in the era of Covid. If seen, more than one lakh research articles were published in various scientific journals. But what is worrying is that the multilevel intellectual review of these scientific articles has now come to an end, leading to an increase in academic fraud and unethical practices. Therefore, as the number of scientific research articles increased, the quality also declined. If seen, it is a matter of serious concern not only for the educational world but also for the development of society and nation. There is no doubt that scientific research, which should be developed with a definite result, is no longer happening. It seems that the current research, especially in the field of science, is engaged in providing only information that benefits the market. Whereas scientific information should be free from biases and personal values and reliable, not market centric. During the epidemic, the news of the side effects of some medicines or the death of a patient due to a vaccine or a complete recovery from Kovid from a certain drug was in the headlines. Then later their refutations or explanations also kept coming out. Such information can come into existence only when an exploit article is published without review by a group of experts concerned.
Such information left no stone unturned to create fear and confusion among the people in the society. As a result, such incidents also came to the fore, in which people gave their lives only because of fear and confusion even before coming under the grip of Covid.
Shouldn’t it be called academic dishonesty to make such misleading and false information public? No exploit or information, whether related to the field of medicine or political, religious, social or economic, should be made public without any intellectual review. It is the ethical responsibility of the researcher and the informant. Otherwise, who will be responsible for the disorder and fear spreading in the society? This is a matter of consideration.
In this era, the number of online national, international seminars-conferences has also increased rapidly. Not only has there been a decrease in the discussion and analysis of subject experts but also the discussions and discussions on the subjects as a general public are increasing. Another challenge that has come to the fore is that it has become easy to get a certificate without attending the webinar, simply by paying the fee, or by simply filling the informational form. Because the API score depends on how many certificates of participation you have in academic programs, not on how many research articles you have submitted, their quality and current relevance. In the age of online webinars, everyone is busy collecting more and more certificates. Therefore, should it be assumed that this period of epidemic is a period of accidents of research and theoretical discussion? And if it is indeed a period of accidents, it is not difficult to predict what will be the state of research in the post-pandemic period.
The market of goods has changed little in the market of information, it is not known. It is a matter of concern that this market of information without any truth and proof has dominated the society through newspapers and magazines and social media. Social media in particular has come to the fore as a weapon on which everyone is engaged in disseminating information through invisible or visible means, regardless of whether there is any basis for its veracity or not. And people also do not fail to transmit such information further and further. Similar situations arise when democratic institutions start to fail in a society and teachers, intellectuals become slaves of power or whose thinking is limited only to their own benefit. Without theoretical, ideological and empirical research, any article is like a public discussion. In such research, all those aspects which have been essential from the scientific point of view are ignored and doing so cannot be said to be suitable for the development of any subject.
Surveying and research, logical analysis of knowledge and information, ideological participation and relentless writing, which are counted among the important characteristics of academic intellectuals, are seen on the margins in the present era, because the complete knowledge of the subject for research work or writing work, logical Ability and commitment are essential. But in this age of the internet everything is easily available without much effort. The reality is also that now the purpose of research is not just to acquire knowledge but to get a degree. The major reason for this is also that without a degree, promotion in educational institutions has become impossible. When education deviates from its original purpose, how harmful its consequences can be, it can be understood in the present times of crisis. It is relevant to argue that the consumer society has produced cosmopolitan warlords who develop ideas for the market for the goods produced and, as a result, marginalize questions of social concern.
- The author is an Educationist and Retired principal
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