Due to the interest in science students and research, it is natural to be interested in the efforts and achievements made in the field of scientific research in Nepal. Scientists around the world have struggled day and night to combat the coronavirus, resulting in the development of a vaccine against the epidemic today and to a large extent to reduce human mortality.
Nepal is geographically smaller than other countries in the world. Even the economic outlook is relatively weak. But, intellectually, Nepal is not behind any other country. There is no need for Nepalis to feel inferior in this.
There are many institutes established in Nepal to conduct scientific research and there is no shortage of scientists capable of conducting research. The work to be done is everywhere. Despite this, why has the research side not been strengthened? When Nepali scientists get the opportunity to work in foreign universities, they are rewarded with excellent results, but when they return to Nepal, why does their efficiency decline?
Research related to science is time consuming and costly from a long-term and economic point of view, but the fact is that without scientific research no factual analysis can be done on any subject and without analysis no further destination can be determined.
Research is the responsibility of the state and once the national goal is set by facilitating the established research institutes, the state should also work to ensure an environment conducive to the involvement of researchers in research, guaranteeing their personal and family sustenance.
So, ironically! In the case of Nepal, science, science and research have never been a priority for the state. As the state has not been able to give priority to scientific research, a large number of expert manpower is now forced to go abroad in search of opportunities.
There are universities established in the country with the objective of producing quality educational manpower as well as advancing the research sector. The only national level institution set up to conduct more scientific research is the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), but there is no indication that research has gained momentum.
The main reason behind this is the negative attitude of the state towards scientific research. Nast is the only institution set up to conduct purely scientific research and has been empowered by the Act as an umbrella institution.
The role of this organization would have been desirable if it had been significant, but there are reasons such as unnatural selection of officials within the organization, pathetic internal management, lack of team of scientists and lack of research environment. Due to which, this organization has not been able to achieve concrete achievements even till the fortieth year of its establishment.
The process of selection and appointment of office bearers and their work in Pragya Pratishthan, Even though the provision of duties and rights is mentioned in the Pragya-Pratishthan Act, in the present situation, the Act is not functioning naturally but is being implemented from the opposite direction. Therefore, the appointment of office bearers takes place only after the name of the person nominated by the appointing body is recommended.
The system of appointing officials on the basis of quota in academic institutions cannot be considered correct from any point of view. When appointing a person with inexperienced engineering background to a purely scientific institution, the pace of the institution was pushed back four years. Moreover, there have been complaints from the scientific staff that the future of the scientific staff has been ruthlessly tampered with.
Thus, due to incompetent officials with political access, the morale of the employees went down. It has been the understanding of the employees that the work could not be done as per the objective within the organization. The pace of the organization was pushed back four years.
Moreover, there have been complaints from the scientific staff that the future of the scientific staff has been ruthlessly tampered with. Thus, due to incompetent officials with political access, the morale of the employees went down. It has been the understanding of the employees that the work could not be done as per the objective within the organization.
The pace of the organization was pushed back four years. Moreover, there have been complaints from the scientific staff that the future of the scientific staff has been ruthlessly tampered with. Thus, due to incompetent officials with political access, the morale of the employees went down. It has been the understanding of the employees that the work could not be done as per the objective within the organization.
Due to the chaotic internal management within the organization, extreme delays in the decision-making process and immaturity, more than 50 percent of the program budget is frozen every year. The recent propaganda about the construction of an oxygen gas cylinder during the Corona epidemic is an example of the work being done to confuse the scientific community.
In fact, the structure is said to have been made only by welding the so-called cylindrical iron sheet. The main part of the cylinder, the gas regulator and the pressure control device may have been purchased elsewhere from the market, but no one but the attachments knew about it.
What is more interesting is that the manpower with thematic expertise in this work is available within the organization. The interpretation of the work being done by a person from an unrelated area seems to have the characteristic of ‘Kano Raja among the blind’.
Apart from the scientific staff, there is an arrangement to have scholars as mentioned in the Act. The appointment of scholars is made by the Vice-Chancellor (Prime Minister) on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor in a certain number every year. What is surprising about the appointment of scholars is that once appointed, they remain in office until they die and do not have to do anything about their work.
Assessing today’s situation, the selection of scholars is based on political affiliation. There are plenty of examples of Pragya being selected for the job when the political environment was favorable for him as he was not appointed as there was no immediate need for him to apply for a job in Pragya.
As long as there is such a situation within the organization, will the research environment be possible and will the research gain momentum? After the promotion of the employees in 2064 BS, they have not been able to get the opportunity to participate in the promotion process till now. The sad thing is here
As the processes related to career development are hampered for a long time, permanent employees continue to retire due to age limit. The number of employees has been very low due to non-recruitment of new employees. What would be the morale of the scientists in such a situation and what would be the effect on their efficiency?
Apart from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, universities should also give priority to research-related activities other than teaching, but this has not been done accordingly. Although it is not that there is no research work in the university, the extreme politics in the universities, the declining educational quality, Factors such as inadequacy of physical infrastructure and low budget may have played a role.
Therefore, it is necessary for the government to take concrete initiatives to motivate the universities for research besides academic activities.