Jawaharlal Nehru’s interest in science began during his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed the Natural Science Tripos. After becoming India’s first prime minister, he promoted scientific research and technical education as central to national development.
Planning for science before Independence
India had an established scientific community before Independence, including researchers such as Jagadish Chandra Bose, C. V. Raman, Meghnad Saha and Homi J. Bhabha. The effort to place science within national economic planning also began before 1947. In 1938, the Congress established a National Planning Committee under Nehru, then drawing on scientists, industrialists and economists to consider India’s economic and industrial future. The Second World War and the Quit India Movement disrupted its work.
Institutions and atomic research
After Independence, Nehru worked closely with physicist Homi J. Bhabha, who had founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1948. A separate Department of Atomic Energy followed in 1954, under the prime minister’s direct charge, with Bhabha as its secretary.
Nehru also supported the expansion of scientific and technical education. The Indian Institutes of Technology began with IIT Kharagpur in 1951, with further institutes established during the 1950s and early 1960s. Their aim was to train scientists and technologists who could contribute to research and development and help build India’s technological capabilities.
A national science policy
Parliament adopted the Scientific Policy Resolution on March 4, 1958. It set out the government’s commitment to applying science and technology to national development and public welfare. In 1962, Nehru constituted the Indian Parliamentary and Scientific Committee to encourage parliamentary engagement with science; Lal Bahadur Shastri became its first chairman.
The source cites historian G. H. Keswani’s account of government research spending, which puts the 1964 figure at 550 million rupees, compared with 24 million rupees in 1947. The figures illustrate the expansion of public support for research during the period.
Science as a way of thinking
For Nehru, science meant more than laboratories or new technology. He described it as a method of examining problems and seeking evidence, and argued that this approach should inform public and personal life. He also maintained that religious belief should not conflict with reason or a scientific outlook.
Nehru’s legacy in Indian science therefore encompassed institutions, education and policy as well as an argument for applying evidence-based thinking to society. The source presents his work alongside the contributions of scientists and planners who helped shape the country’s research and development efforts.
