NATURE 



669 



THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1920. 



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A Chemical Service for India. 



THE constructive proposals put forward in the 

 Report of the Indian Industrial Commission, 

 1916— 18, presided over by Sir Thomas Holland, 

 were dependent on the acceptance of two prin- 

 ciples : (i) That in future Government must play 

 an active part in the industrial development of 

 the country, with the aim of making India more 

 self-contained in respect of men and material ; 

 (2) that it is impossible for Government to under- 

 take that part unless provided with adequate ad- 

 ministrative equipment and fore-armed with trust- 

 worthy scientific and technical advice. 



The Report under consideration 1 is the work of 

 a Committee which sat in Simla, from February 16 

 until February 28 of this year, after the president 

 with two members of the Committee had toured 

 through the provinces. The Committee was ap- 

 pointed "to formulate proposals for the organisa- 

 tion of a Chemical Service for India and for the 

 location and equipment of research laboratories." 



Prof, J. F. Thorpe, professor of organic chem- 

 istry in the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 

 nology, London, was president of the Committee. 

 His associates were Dr. K. S. Caldwell, principal 

 of Patna College; Mr. R. W. Davies, district 

 and sessions judge, North Arcot, Madras Presi- 

 dency; Dr. W. Harrison, Imperial agricultural 

 chemist. Research Institute, Pusa; Sir P. C. Ray, 

 professor of chemistry, University College of 

 Science, Calcutta; Dr. J, L. Simonsen, forest 

 chemist. Forest Research Institute and College, 

 Dehra Dun; Dr. J. J. Sudborough, professor 

 of organic chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, 

 Bangalore. 



The terms of reference to the Committee were : 



(i) To consider whether an all-India Chemical 

 Service is the best and most suitable method of 



1 Report of the Chemical Services Committee, iqao. (Simla : Govern- 

 ment Central Press.) 



NO. 2648, VOL. 105] 



overcoming the difficulties and deficiencies pointed 

 out by the Indian Industrial Commission. 



(i) In the event of the Committee approving 

 the principle of an all-India service, to devise 

 terms of recruitment, employment and organisa- 

 tion; to indicate the extent to which chemists 

 already in Government employ should be included 

 in that service ; and to suggest what should be the 

 relations of the proposed organisation with the 

 public and with Departments of the Government 

 of India and of Local Governments. 



(3) In particular to frame proposals for the loca- 

 tion, scope and organisation of institutions for 

 chemical research. 



During his tour Prof. Thorpe became satisfied 

 that the development of the chemical industries of 

 India could be adequately realised only through 

 the agency of an efficient Government Chemical 

 Service. Nowhere did he find an effective organ- 

 isation to co-ordinate the various efforts which 

 were being made; not one of the provinces had 

 even formulated a programme of its requirements 

 or decided what educational methods were neces- 

 sary to attain the desired ends. To achieve 

 success the proposed Chemical Service must be 

 recruited mainly from Indian sources : the ques- 

 tion of an adequate training in Indian universities 

 is therefore vital. This subject is specially dealt 

 with by Prof. Thorpe in an able introductory 

 note : the Committee expresses itself as in 

 agreement with his views. 



The evidence put before the Committee was so 

 definitely in favour of a Chemical Service that it 

 came to the conclusion that question No. i of its 

 remit, quoted above, could be best answered by 

 the formation of a service having as its primary 

 objective the encouragement of industrial research 

 and development. 



The Committee makes thirty-five recommenda- 

 tions of which the first twelve are as follows : — 



(i) That a Chemical Service should be con- 

 stituted. 



(2) That the service should be called the Indian 

 Chemical Service. 



(3) That the service should be controlled by a 

 Director-General. 



(4) That a Central Imperial Chemical Research 

 Institute should be erected at Dehra Dun under 

 the Director-General of the Chemical Service, 

 as Director, assisted by a number of Deputy 

 Directors. 



(5) That each Deputy Director should be in 

 charge of a separate Department and that, in the 

 first instance, there should be four Departments, 

 (a) Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, (b) Organic 

 Chemistry, (c) Metallurgical Chemistry, (d) Ana- 

 lytical Chemistry. 



(6) That a Provincial Research Institute under 



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