Modifications to the list of scientists selected for the Centre’s Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar or National Science Awards have stirred speculation in scientific circles whether “extra-science factors” have influenced the list of awardees named for outstanding science achievements.

The final list of scientists selected for the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) is different from the list prepared by the RVP selection committee, three scientists familiar with the modifications have told The Telegraph. The awards are expected to be given later this week.

India’s science and technology ministry had announced the new annual RVP last September, saying the awards would be the nation’s “highest recognitions” for “notable and inspiring” contributions in science, technology, and innovation.

The ministry’s announcement followed an earlier directive from the Centre to government science departments to discontinue dozens of earlier awards, some of which had been given for decades, and to introduce “high-stature” awards with new names.

The RVP 2024 final list released on August 7 by the office of the principal scientific adviser to the government names 33 awardees across four categories of awards: one Vigyan Ratna, 13 Vigyan Shri, 18 Vigyan Yuva, and one Vigyan Team.

The Vigyan Yuva awards for young researchers are the new avatar of the earlier Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes instituted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and first given in 1958.

The names of two scientists in the list submitted by the RVP selection committee to the government do not appear in the final list released on August 7.

The modifications in the list have prompted some scientists to question whether the RVP selection process has an additional “gatekeeping” mechanism that comes into play after the selection committee has submitted the list to the government.

One of the scientists whose name has been dropped had articulated his opposition to certain decisions by the Narendra Modi government and questioned what many had viewed as curbs on opportunities to exchange ideas on socio-political issues in academic institutions.

For instance, the scientist was among the signatories on a statement in February 2023 criticising the Centre’s decision to censor a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had decried the Indian Institute of Science’s attempt to block a public discussion on the criminal justice system in the country.

A scientist familiar with the RVP selection process said it went through “several stages,” including subject-level committees. “Not all members were members of all committees and privy to the selection at each stage,” the scientist told The Telegraph. “So it is not correct if some member claims that there was a final selection and some names were dropped.”

An email reviewed by this newspaper shows that a selection committee member had through an associate conveyed a congratulatory message to one of the intended recipients on August 7, assuming that the government had, under a planned protocol, informed the intended recipient on August 6. The selection committee member then had to explain to the intended recipient that his name had been dropped.

The member who had conveyed the congratulatory message and another scientist involved in the selection process declined to discuss the modifications, citing confidentiality clauses they had to sign when taking on their RVP assignments. Some scientists are speculating whether the government has adopted for the RVP a “verification” process that it uses for the annual Padma awards.

The Padma awards process involves “due verification of character and antecedents of the persons” before the names are sent to the Prime Minister and the President for approval.

The concerns over the deleted names relate to what some scientists view as an additional decision-making layer that was invisible to at least some members of the selection committee — those who submitted the initial list to the government.

“What is troubling is the opacity in the process,” said a senior scientist who added that he is concerned about the turn of events. “If there is an additional layer of vetting, the government should make this clear — for the sake of transparency.”

Another scientist based in Mumbai who was not associated with the RVP process in any way but is familiar with these developments said the modifications in the list aren’t surprising.

“I’m not surprised because this kind of control was probably the very reason why all ministries were told to stop all awards and everything was centralised,” the scientist said.