Category III. Donations for Scientific Research Work in different field s knowledge.
Now a days it is very essential for us that the original scientific researches be carried out in various fields of knowledge for the prosperity of our country. Just as the central goal of education is student so also is the teacher. If the teacher is alert, studious and has love for knowledge then the taught is bound to be influenced and thereby the class room teaching instead of becoming dry, monotonous will pulsate with freshness, enthusiasm and joy.
Necessity of continuity of such a process, specially in the field of higher education is great. Besides the teaching the process becomes possible with love and labour of research work. If the colleges and professors of the universities of Gujarat keep themselves engaged in such research work over and above the job of teaching, then both can become lively.
To this end in view Shree Mota conceived an idea that if some sort of research-prize distribution scheme for the university and college professors of Gujarat be worked out, some interest in research work etc. can be created and teaches can experience the appreciative nature of society.
He proposed to award research prizes to increase production of food for the nation. He allotted handsome amounts for the researches in medicine so that recovery from incurable diseases like Cancer, T.B. and Diabetes be made possible. He announced rewards for economically viable project for a village to desaline sea-water into pure drinking water to remove extreme difficulties in innumerable coastal villages of India.
He organised competitions on an all India basis for design of low-cost housing and for the researches with new scientific out-look in the production of cheap building materials so that the low income group people can afford to have it. HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation, Delhi) is entrusted with the work of holding all India competitions. Rs. 5,00,000 (Five lakhs of rupees) were given to HUDCO for this purpose. With all India awards researches, he associated the names of great scientists of India like Shree Meghnad Saha (for research in the theoretical sciences), Dr. C. V. Raman (for research in physical sciecnces) . Dr. Homi Bhabha (for research in applied sciences) Shree Jagdishchandra Bose (for research in work intlife sciences). For this the University Grant Commission (U.G>C) has been given Rs. 6,00,000/- (Six laks rupees) for instituting every year four all India annual awards of Rs. 10,000/- each for scientific researches.
Rupees three laks had been given to the All India Councl of Medical Sciences for an annual award of Rs. 30,000/- for an original and outstanding research in medicine by an Indian on the Indian soil.
Another sum of Rs. 3 lakhs had been entrusted to Indian Council of Agricultural Research for two all India awards of Rs. 15,000/- each for research in agriculture and oil seeds.
All India Association of Surgeons (Madras) was given rupees two lakhs for giving All India awards to the best research in the fields of surgery.
Physical Research Laboratory (P.R.L.) Ahmedabad founded by Late Shree Vikram Sarabhai was given 11 lakh rupees for giving all India awards for best research in different fields like Electronics, Telecommunications, Planetary and Space Sciences, Atmospheric physics, Hydrology Systems of Analysis and Management Problems.
It is needless to say that entire amount remains intact and yearly awards are given only from the interest of amount given.
Such other 16 research awards are constituted on state level by Pujya shree Mota. Some of them being on all India level. For each such award Rs. 50,000 is given and the award worth Rs. 5,000 is to be given form the interest of the amount. All the Universities of Gujarat are covered for the subjects like (1) Botany Plants and Plant Pathology and Zoology, (2) Dry Farming Creals and Marine Plants (3) Horticulture (4) Man made fibres and Silk Chemistry (5) Oceanology (6) Archeology (7) Social Sciences (8) Mineral ores and products and its ingredients (9) Bio-Chemistry, Geo-Chemistry and SoilChemistry (10) Tropical diseases and their cure (11) Mechanical Engineering (12) Dyes, Dyes-products and Textiles (13) Ayrvedic researches. Among these, awards for Ayurvedic researches and Manmade Fibres and Silk Chemistry are on all India level.
Besides these awards, three to four universities are given Rs. 50,000/- for each subject for giving 12 prizes every year worth Rs. 5,000/- for the state level competitions in subjects like Maths, Gujarati Language, Science, Hindi and English to find out the best talents among the students of the respective subjects.
Over and above the universities, recepient institutions include some District Panchayats, Gujarat Co-operative Marketing Association, Ahmedabad Textile Industrial Research Association (ATIRA), Gujarat Association of Agricultural Sciences, Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institution – Bhavnagar.
Total sum under this third category amounts to more than Rs. 30,05,000/- (Thirty lakhs five thousand rupees). The illustration where an indigent sadhu or a saint has donated to sponser scientific researches is second to none in our cultural history.