On 18 January 2025, IIT Bombay organized a lecture on “Garbhavigyan”, the science of begetting a good progeny. Three days before, the Director of IIT Madras claimed that gaumutra (cow urine) has medicinal properties and can cure diseases. In 2024, IIT Mandi introduced a mandatory course for engineering students, which includes content related to reincarnation and out-of-body experiences. In 2022, IIT Kharagpur introduced a Vedic Calendar featuring a number of unscientific claims. Such pseudo-scientific and unsubstantiated claims made by the top science and research institutes is appalling, but not uncommon. It fits a larger trend of decline of scientific temper driven by the rise of right wing politics in India and across the world.
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