Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu) — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday lauded the scientific strength of the Indian diaspora and said the country must tap that vast potential for development, especially in the knowledge economy.
“The global Indian diaspora is a vast pool of knowledge we must tap, especially in the sciences,” he told the 94th Indian Science Congress at the Annamalai University Campus here, some 225 km south of Chennai.
According to him, many bright young Indian scientists working abroad in advanced fields of research wished to come back to their home country for varying periods of time.
“We must try and attract the best and the brightest of our scientists abroad to return home and participate in the adventure of building a knowledge-based economy here,” he said.
“We must fully exploit the potential of this reverse brain drain.”
Towards this end, the prime minister said, India must bring about changes in areas like visa regime, the employment procedures and remuneration, especially in universities and government institutions.
“Our mindsets must change so that we are more open to draw on these and other global resources in promoting science and technology development at home.”