New Delhi

Scientific research in India is facing up to a brain drain with a difference. The financial lure of careers in information technology — at home and abroad — is creaming off more and more of the talented young people who might otherwise become scientists.

Feed the world: Vajpayee (second from right) plans to step up supply of scientists and IT professionals. Credit: AP

Addressing the Indian Science Congress last month, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the global demand for Indian computer professionals was a challenge for Indian science. Although the country was proud of its prowess in IT, Vajpayee said, he was worried about the decline in enrolment in other disciplines by the country's best students. He warned that the trend could lead to a shortage of science teachers and researchers.

The state of Tamilnadu, one of the main sources of IT émigrés, reports a shortage of 500 university teachers, with few graduates choosing to go on to do a PhD, the entry-level qualification for institute faculty.

“All our best students are opting for IT,” says one university administrator. “This is posing problems for our other faculties.”

The head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation recently blamed a delay in developing a new fighter aircraft on a severe shortage of skilled staff. And many research institutes are feeling the impact.

“I would like to believe this is a passing phase and that things will stabilize sooner rather than later,” says Govardhan Mehta, president of the Indian National Science Academy and director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the country's leading research institute. Many science and engineering students at his institute have left for high-paying jobs in the IT sector, he adds.

Even India's own IT industry has been hit. “The attraction of the United States has led to a severe shortage of high-quality talent,” says Naresh Gupta, managing director of Adobe India.

The government's main response has been to increase the supply of IT professionals, including teachers, announcing plans to expand undergraduate training and emphasize postgraduate and research programmes. It also plans to sponsor 200 students in all scientific disciplines to PhD level and upgrade 250 university science departments.

One estimate is that India will need to produce 1.5 million computer software engineers — half of whom will go abroad — during the next eight years.

Indian nationals are said to be involved in 40% of the start-up companies in California's Silicon Valley. The flow increased after the annual quota of US work permits for technically qualified immigrants went up from 107,500 to 195,000. Britain has tripled its quota to 90,000. Singapore, Japan and Germany are also taking steps to attract skilled immigrants.