Sir: I have been in this field of `Biotechnology' for more than two decades now and working for a pharmaceutical company. I fully agree with Dr.Radhakrishna Pillai that the Biotechnology course in the under-graduate level should not be encouraged by the government. The field is such that students from Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Botany, Zoology, chemistry, Pharmacy, chemical engineering graduates etc. are also eligible to get into the filed of Biotechnology. But, in India (even elsewhere also) the industry has not grown so much like IT industry where after completeing the Under-graduate course in `Biotechnology' getting a job is just NOT POSSIBLE. Because, in the industry normally preference is given to pure science students because their fundamentals and practical skills are strong unlike Biotech graduates and the HYPE has already been created that Biotechnology is more sought after course after IT and the HYPE is NOT true. Becuase the Biotech industry has not grown to that extent to absorb the young talents available. I request the concerned authorities not to creat unnecessary `HYPE'
First and foremost let me tell that author looks so immaturish when he talks about the carrier and salaries. No company, mind it no company pays salaries in range of 10,000 to a PhD. In noway a fresh PhD get's lesser than Rs 20,000, in any subject from science, leave apart Biotech. Exploitation is there. Some companies pay lesser than a call centre employee. But when you go to aborad and global market you are paid very handsome money with PhD getting $40,000 PA minimum with extra perks like complete medical, dental, social security, free internet, phones and laptops and loans for household with minimum 30% increment per annum.
The Why India is suffering in Biotech market? Together with incoming multinational companies , our own companies have understood the fact that India has cheapest labour cost. They have to pay salary 6 times or more lesser than globally prevelent salary. They promote breeding of high number of graduates knowingly so that their requirement at cheaper cost si met always. They never focus over quality because most of the companies here are in curation and simple clinical jobs, for which one needs a book of standerd protocols like one which stays in any laboratory. No focus over R&D. Jobs are outsourced and BPO support has to be given. And our children graduate just to work as low paid BPO worker in such industries which give long interviews. Hardly you would find the sense of market and industry in those graduates, hardly any sense to become enterprenuer and start and change the industry environment and hit the money dominated markets. Blindly all follow the same path including the employee as well as their employer. These companies have generated th number of jobs but not the quality of jobs. those doing postdocs or PhD abroad want to come back but their problem is that when they come here they get lesser salary as well as stay underemployed with poor job quality prevelant everywhere. Indian research institutions are doing much much better jobs than any company in this country today. biotechies are just associated with pharma companies while this is just a limited appraoch. Why don't they go aggressive over food sector and agriculture, where import export has higher chance? Why not any company here rises which works in the field of biomedical sciences like artificial eyes research, or heart which has very high amrket demand and involves all kinds of interdesciplinary inputs. But they can't do this. Our students go to US UK and do subsidiary jobs there too while they are forced to end up like labour underpaaid in Indian market. Teach the graduates to take up the challenege and challeneging researches and open companies instead of becoming underpaid labour if companies are suckers.boom is always there if you ahve head.
RE:Not correct by core
by sabarish ramachandran on May 18, 2007 01:21 PM Permalink
Area Roy baba get into the practical terms and look for the possible ways, any job will fetch more money in abroad than india, biotech is not a white collar job, and research is not something comes out instantaneously, research means squeeze u r knowldge,and R&D of a company will select only those with much much experience, Biotech belongs to a life science group that means lot of investment is needed for reserch in terms od buying chemicals, instruments etc ets, its not like IT just buy a computer and sit in home and work with the same machine every time....understood
RE:RE:Not correct by core
by Ravi Roy on May 18, 2007 01:40 PM Permalink
Aeyyo Sabarsih ye kya bolta hai ji..typical slave attitude of thinking. you define the templete of those crying underpaid guys here rama re. So keep on sitting in bangalooru nariyal based life science factories. It needs idea. lab setups of research institutions are enough to take care of infrastructure chemical experiment support Appa. This is not south Indian thali that you need to do everything yourself. It requires mind. If you say DRL, or Biocon, or Astra Zenica have no thsoe resources, then I can udnerstand your logical status. And a new enterprenuer does not need to put funds but needs tie ups and channelization. you spoke nothing sensible to make me things understood. Come out of labour mentality ramachandran appa. First go and read the stories of enterprenuers even including Kiran majumdar of A Pandey, who started things from hutment. You willg iven job of procuring cement chemical etc. don't worry.
RE:Not correct by core
by Ravi Roy on May 18, 2007 01:54 PM Permalink
From south India, people graduate like Bhend Bakri in Biotech, with any private college openign the course. these students have no depth. While same time in north Indian universities and other places, students have deeper knowledge and experience..still companies come in south and do recruitment of those Bhend bakadi, who die and crave for any job offer of 8000 rupees. These bhend bakdi and their producers in private coleges of south india has another share in the poor show of Biotech, who lack quality terribly, making all these life science to do BPO job and related recruitment, while msot of the north Indian students leave India or join companies outside or here at higher position and salaries. This is why those companies workign in northern side of India are better employer than those in south where everything is high in amount except quality and salary. This must not be taken as regional statement but as a fact.
RE:RE:Not correct by core
by raghu rajagopal on May 20, 2007 04:13 PM Permalink
Hello it seems you had drifted from core of the topic. Being a PhD student in Biotechnology I would like to say that it is not the matter of fact whether graduates are from which part of India and i would like to state that from what i had observed from other north indian grads as you say they are no better than south and their English communications skill is not to the extent of south grads. This is also not to taken as a regional statement.
i would like to make a comment , that there is not at all biotech boom in india , of course there is boom only for the sales person who are selling biotech products in india from overseas company. there is not enough funding for the research scholars ,resarch people put their day and night on this but in return of this what they are paid ?? very few bucks .even researchers in india cant think of the lucrative and good life style . they show that they are simple and down to earth , but the real situation is they have to be down to earth and simple , because they cant afford .neither they got money neither they are able to give their time to family or friends .because of the lack of enough funding . and the frustating environment.and lack of job.
I totally agree with the article, eventhought it has been hyped taht Biotech is the next big thing, it's not so. But, I did PG in Biotech due to pure love for the subject and also the interest I had in Biology and Chemistry.
One thing I want to mention is that Indian MNC's should be willing to train freshers in Biotech and relate fields by giving them stipend and then absorb them on the basis of their performance. Without getting a company exposure, how they can gain experience. MSc degree alone will not give them the adequate practical training neede to excel, but they can get real-time experimental exposure in these companies or Institutes only. SO, I REQUEST TOP MNC PEOPLES TO RECRUIT CANDIDATES ON THE BASIS OF MERIT AND NOT ON THE BASIS OF REFERENCES, REGIONAL BIAS ETC.
RE:Companies should be willing to train Freshers or those with Little Experience.
by dharmananand ravirajan on Jun 19, 2007 07:10 PM Permalink
well said sreeram..i am also a fresher in this feeling striving to get a pay....job..no use...
rediff shud expose so called "COURSES" more aggressively with their pos and negatives.....so tat students make clear choice.....also there is nothing like BOOM in biotech even in future, with only some pharma companies n one BIOCON tat too preferring pharma graduates over Biotechies
It's a fact that all the developed countries gives more importance to science especially human related research. But, Science in India is getting the least importance. We require more world class Institutes like TIFR/NCBS/IISC in each and every State, not in a few selected areas. Companies and Institutes should be willing to take freshers and train them with stipend. How can one get experience without any exposure. The attitude of taking only students from top Institutes alone should be scrapped. It's not necessary that students from IISC/IIT's alone are brilliant. It's a myth really. From school itself students should be told about the value of Science in society. It should be used for the development of mankind. India should give importance to Jawaharlal Nehru's idea of bringing Science forward. We should develop new methods whether in Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture etc. here itself, rather than exporting them from developed countries. I am a PG in Biotechnology and has myself gone through the dilemmas which has been mentioned in the article. I hope our Govt will give enough fundings to Science and related fields and thereby giving a new lease of life to our beloved Motherland - INDIA. Sreeram P.S
After going through all these comments and facts... it is very clear that problem is at school level where students are taught, languages, science, maths but are not given foresight as to what will they do with it. We still follow very rigid formulae:
Formula 1: 10 2 3 = IT/BPO Job
Formula 2: 10 2 4 = IT/BPO JOb
Formula 3: (10 2 3/4) MBA/MS = High End job, still serving an MNC
Very few who know what they want to do, work out their own formula and crave their own path. Rest fall to the marketing gimmick of plethora of eduction/training institutes....
So education scope goal must be imbibed at school (grass root) level and its no mean task
I'm a biotech graduate who fell into this boom, thinking my future would be boomed, finally I have landed in a PhD programme in korea and now I'm a research zombie. Coming back to india getting a job in govt-research lab is difficult, reason is simple, jobs are favoured based on caste system category and employment seniority, just for a salary of 10.000/month, a medical rep earns more than that..... So guys as the author has said, think before you jump to biotech, else no other go better study biochemistry or micro or biology etc.....
RE:really really very very TRUE
by on May 18, 2007 04:28 PM Permalink
I hav jus given my exams for b.sc biotech, n hav a will to do PG in biotech bec of my love n devotion for the subject....but reading at these articles my mind is getting confused as to... what is the right thing for me...idont want to land-up jobless...as u hav seen this field closely i hope u may suggest something for many who aspire to do masters in our field...
RE:really really very very TRUE
by dharmananand ravirajan on Jun 19, 2007 07:12 PM Permalink
go with any other courses dear and not this life sciences.....i beg u for ur betterment in the future...u need to understand that life is practical ..and luv and passion wont serve the true purpose....dnt loose ur career.
RE:really really very very TRUE
by Mehul Meisheri on Jul 30, 2007 05:21 PM Permalink
ya man go in for IT or some think else this field will screw u up ,else do ure PG from JNU ,VSIR and get papers published during ure master's level , but u gotta slog , in IT u ll earn much more with much less effort
RE:really really very very TRUE
by on May 18, 2007 04:39 PM Permalink
N for me it was my passion for this field from the period when i first read about biotech n its applications about 5 yrs back....due to no scope in future my friends dropped the idea of doing PG in biotech...instead they r thinkin abt MBA but i don wan to drop my interest for the biotech....these r the thoughts which haunt my mind whole day....but one thing i know is tht im passionate abt it but i don know wht will happen in future if the scenario remains the same.....i don wan to end jobless...can u give ur advice on doing computational biology after my PG. N some even say tht after ur PG go for drug designing u can get jobs but reading these articles i wan to be sure n wan to hav full info abt as to wht im doing will help me to fetch a job or not....
RE:really really very very TRUE
by anshul nigam on May 21, 2007 12:43 AM Permalink
look if u can design software that involved in designing molecules then u can progress but my dear frd for this u need very good IT skills with all my experience i can give u suggestion just mail me anshuln@rediffmail.com
This article should be published in major newspapers and magazines for all those who do not get to the internet. It extremely well written and has been researched correctly. I would like to see a response from those who promote the notion of a 'biotech boom' in this country. Ministers and other persons who have spread this notion should get down to countering this article if they have any arguments in their defense. This should certainly be debated openly.
My advise to all young people is to study a subject they truly love. If their only reason to get a degree is money, then go for the obvious. Otherwise do your homework (like the author of this article) before you get into a new field.
