The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna
pariṣada) abbreviated as CSIR was established by the Government of India in September of
1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and development organisation
in India. As of 2013, it runs 38 laboratories/institutes,
39 outreach centers, 3 Innovation Centers and 5 units throughout the nation, with a
collective staff of over 14,000, including a total of 3987 scientists and 6454 technical
and support personnel. Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology,
it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.The research
and development activities of CSIR include aerospace engineering, structural engineering,
ocean sciences, life sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather,
and environmental science.Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary of DST took additional charge as
director general of CSIR, with effect from August 24, 2018.In terms of Intellectual property,
CSIR has 2971 patents in force internationally and 1592 patents in force in India.In late
2007, the Minister of Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal stated, in a Question Hour session
of the Parliament, that CSIR has developed 1,376 technologies/knowledgebase during the
last decade of the 20th century.
== History == In the 1930s, the need for establishing research
organisations for the development of natural resources and new industries in India began
to emerge. Eminent citizens such as C. V. Raman, Lt. Col. Seymour Sewell and J. C. Ghosh
had proposed the creation of an advisory board of scientific research. Sir Richard Gregory,
then editor of Nature, was among the first people who officially reported to the British
Government. After visiting scientific departments and universities in India in 1933, Gregory
submitted to Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India, regarding the need of scientific
organisation similar to the DSIR in Britain. Indian scientists at Calcutta and Bangalore
initiated schemes to launch a National Institute of Sciences and an Indian Academy of Sciences,
respectively. At the Fifth Industries Conference in 1933, the Provincial Governments of Bombay,
Madras, Bihar and Orissa unanimously reiterated their demand for a co-ordinating forum for
industrial research. Hoare advised the Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, to support the demand. However,
in May 1934, Willingdon replied to Hoare saying, "The creation of a Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research in India to promote the application of research to natural resources
does not appear to be necessary." While the Indian DSIR was rejected, the colonial government
provided a small concession. It instead offered to create an Industrial Intelligence and Research
Bureau, which came into operation in April 1935 under the Indian Stores Department. The
Bureau's limited resources (with a budget of INR 1.0 lakh per annum) made it impossible
to initiate major research and industrial activities as had been hoped for; it was mainly
concerned with testing and quality control.At the onset of World War II in 1939, the bureau
was proposed to be abolished. Arguably, Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar became the most instrumental
in the creation of CSIR in India. As a member of Viceroy’s executive council, and also
of Commerce, he recommended that the Bureau should be terminated, not as a measure of
economy, but to make room for a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research, which should be endowed
with greater resources and wider objectives. It was by this persistence that the Board
of Scientific and Industrial Research (BSIR) was created on 1 April 1940 for a period of
two years. Mudaliar became the chair of the board. It was at this point that Bhatnagar
was appointed to pilot the board, as the Director. The BSIR was allocated an annual budget of
INR 500,000 under the Department of Commerce. By the end of 1940, about 80 researchers were
engaged, of whom one-quarter was directly employed. Major achievements of BSIR included
development of the techniques for the purification of Baluchistan sulphur anti-gas cloth manufacture,
vegetable oil blends as fuel and lubricants, plastic packing cases for army boots and ammunition,
dyes for uniforms and the preparation of vitamins, and the invention of a pyrethrum emulsifier
and cream. In early 1941 Bhatnagar persuaded the government to set up an Industrial Research
Utilisation Committee (IRUC) for translating results into application. The government then
agreed to make a separate fund out of the royalties received from industry for further
investment into industrial research. Mudaliar recommended that an Industrial Research Fund
should be constituted, which would have an annual grant of INR 1,000,000 (one million)
for a period of five years. This was accepted by the Central Assembly in Delhi at its session
on 14 November 1941. Then the constitution of the Council of Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR) as an autonomous body was prepared under Mudaliar and Bhatnagar.
Thus, CSIR came into operation on 26 September 1942. The BSIR and IRUC were incorporated
into the advisory bodies to the governing body of the CSIR. In 1943 the governing body
of CSIR approved the proposal of Bhatnagar, though the initiative of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, to establish five national laboratories — the National Chemical Laboratory, the
National Physical Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, and the Glass and Ceramics Research
Institute. In 1944 in addition to its annual budget of INR 1 million, CSIR received a grant
of INR 10 million for the establishment of these laboratories. The Tata Industrial House
donated INR 2 million for the chemical, metallurgical and fuel research laboratories. The foundation
for the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute at Kolkata was the first to be laid,
in December 1945; and that for the National Chemical Laboratory at Pune was the last,
on 6 April 1947, four months before India became independent. All the five establishments
were completed by 1950.
== Organization Structure == President : Prime Minister (Ex-Officio)
Vice President : Minister of Science & Technology, India (Ex-Officio)
Governing Body : The Director General is the head of the governing body. The other ex-officio
member is the finance secretary (expenditures). Other members' terms are three years.
CSIR Advisory Board : 15-member body composed of prominent members from respective fields
of science and technology. Its function is to provide S&T inputs to the governing body.
Member terms are three years.
== CSIR achievements == Developed India's first synthetic drug, methaqualone
in 1950. Developed first Indian tractor Swaraj in 1967
completely based on indigenous know-how. Achieved the first breakthrough of flowering
of Bamboo within weeks as against twenty years in nature.
First to analyse genetic diversity of the indigenous Andamanese tribes and to establish
their origin out of Africa 60,000 years ago. Developed the first transgenic Drosophila
model for drug screening for cancer in humans. Invented, once a week non-steroidal family
planning pill Saheli and non-steroidal herbal pill for asthma called Asmon.
Designed India's first ever parallel processing computer, Flosolver.Rejuvenated India's one-hundred-year-old
refinery at Digboi using the most modern molecular distillation technology.
With TCS, developed a versatile portable PC-based software 'Bio-Suite' for bioinformatics.
Design of 14 seater plane 'SARAS'. Established first ever in the world 'Traditional
Knowledge Digital Library' accessible in five international languages, English, German,
French, Japanese and Spanish. Successfully challenged the grant of patent
in the USA for use of haldi (turmeric) for wound healing and neem as insecticide.
In 2009, completed the sequencing of the Human Genome.
In 2011, successfully tested India's 1st indigenous civilian aircraft, NAL NM5 made in association
with National Aerospace Laboratories and Mahindra Aerospace.
== Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology ==
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize was established by CSIR in 1958. The prize is named after
the Founder Director Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. The nominees for the award are filtered out
from the research categories of - Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth Sciences,
Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary, Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences & Physical
Sciences. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize comes up
with a Citation, a Plaque & a Cash Award of 5 Lakh Rupees with the addition of a stipend
of 15,000/- per month (till the age of 65). Every year, the Award Selection Committee
of CSIR presents the award to maximum 2 individuals from each research category. As per the stats,
the SSB Prize has been awarded to 525 individuals for their exemplary work in Science & Technology.
The candidates must be:
Indian Nationality Overseas citizen of India (OCI) and Persons
of Indian Origin (PIO) working in India The awardee must have made conspicuously important
and outstanding contributions to human knowledge and progress – fundamental and applied – in
the field of endeavor, which is his/her specialization. Upper Age Limit – 45 years.The above criteria
help CSIR Committee to select the eligible candidates for the award but the selection
will be based on the results of selection procedure which is conducted by the Advisory
Committee of CSIR.
== Research laboratories under CSIR ==
== Journals == 18 journals and 3 popular science magazines
(Science Reporter and its Hindi,Urdu editions) are available under open access from NOPR
website.
== See also