Impact of Science and Technology in Shaping the Lifestyle of the Common Man

Science and Technology (S&T) has made a phenomenal impact the world over in shaping the lifestyle of the common man. If India has to go ahead, S&T must play a pivotal role in all the important tasks that lie ahead of us.


Hence, the deployment of S&T as an effective instrument of growth and change becomes an imperative strategy. In order to derive maximum output from meager resources, S&T must be brought into the main theme of economic planning in the agricultural, industrial and services sectors.

Since independence, India has been pursuing a programme of using modern science and technology for national development. Today, India spends one per cent of its Gross National Product (GNP) on science and technology.

Jawaharlal Nehru made conscious efforts to enhance and modernise the scientific infrastructure in the country through setting up of a chain of national laboratories, institutes of higher technical education, universities etc.

Nehru was firmly committed to building these “modern temples” for national development and thus science and technology became an important tool for changing the society.

In pursuance of the nation’s commitment to using science and technology for development, the Parliament passed the Scientific Policy Resolution on March 4, 1958 which lays stress on Government’s responsibility to foster, promote and sustain by all appropriate means the cultivation of science and scientific research in all its aspects pure, applied and educational.

The policy also envisages a well-planned effort for promoting and encouraging the growth of S&T personnel on a scale adequate to fulfill the country’s needs for science, education, agriculture, industry and defense. The scientific policy resolution, in general, also aims to secure for the people of the country all the benefits that can accrue from the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge.

Recognising the new role that technology can play in the development of science, the...