Union Minister Piyush Goyal took a jab at CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke while speaking about government-funded programmes to bring Indian talent back from around the world.
Goyal, who was interacting with Indian science and technology research students in Berlin, cited China’s state-sponsored initiative, which recruits top scientists, researchers, and technology experts from abroad (particularly overseas Chinese academics) to reverse brain drain and build China’s domestic innovation capacity. “Wherever you go in the world, you find huge Indian talent. But how do we attract them back to India? But we have to also be careful that there is no misuse. In China, people are afraid of misuse. They can just disappear. If someone misuses it in India, I will disappear,” the minister quipped.
Asked whether India would come up with an initiative similar to China’s, Goyal said, “It’s a good initiative but then comes the difference between dictatorship and democracy.”
“…If we do this, then people like Abhijeet Dipke will come and say that it was the government’s job to fund the students, grant scholarships so why should we do it on our own. Am I right or wrong? Unfortunately, such elements will come and mess with our heads. The minister further asked the Indian students to think about ideas that would help attract Indian talent back to the country. “The problem was caused by you for good reasons. For good reasons…you were growing, you wanted low cost of energy. You put a CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) on yourself. You’re inviting disaster.
You put a 50 per cent import duty to bring steel into your country.
So we have to calibrate our policies from the point of view of our democracy,” Goyal said. Your cost of living will go up,” the minister said, adding that developed economies had burned coal to keep energy costs low as they grew.
