My statement misconstrued, says CNR Rao on politicians are idiots remark

A day after courting controversy with his ‘idiots’ remark, Bharat Ratna awardee scientist CNR Rao on Monday clarified that he had been misconstrued.

Rao, who is also the chairman of prime minister’s scientific advisory council, said the target of his ire was the funding for science — which he thought was abysmal, forcing him to call it idiotic — and not politicians as was reported.

“Unfortunately, it (idiots) has been misunderstood as a harsh word. Our investment is not good, it is a bit idiotic kind of investment. That is what I said. They (politicians) have to understand the relative importance of science in proportion to our requirement so that India shines, so that India is among the top five countries in the world. For that to happen, we have to understand what is required, but it is not being understood and there is a bit of an idiotic situation. That is what I meant. I did not call anybody an idiot,” said Rao. 

Rao said he was not angry and that he would not use the word again.

“I am not an angry man. I am a person who wants transformation, reformation. I wanted something to be done. Unfortunately, they do not understand the priorities,” he said. On Sunday, Rao hit out at politicians, referring to them as idiots for earmarking inadequate finds for the scientific sector.