The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai is facing campus controversy after organizing an event on ‘the science of begetting a good progeny,’ raising concerns about promoting pseudoscience. The talk on ‘Garbhavigyan,’ set for January 18, is led by an Ayurveda expert from Sanskruti Arya Gurukulam. The event, which promises to explore factors influencing a child’s qualities, health during pregnancy, and practices like ‘garbhasanskar,’ has sparked protests among students.
As per a report in The Times of India (ToI), the event has started raising eyebrows on the campus. Details of the event were sent via mail to everyone subscribed to updates on campus events.
The mail read that the participants who attended the talk would know about factors influencing internal and external qualities of the child, how ancestors influence qualities of the child as well as about health of mother and foetus during pregnancy and consequences of carelessness during pregnancy, among other things.
I even mentioned that researchers, young adults, parents of young children and educators could attend the event.
Critics, particularly from the gender cell, argue that the institute recently cancelled a discussion on women’s workplace struggles, only to replace it with an event promoting Ayurveda-based pregnancy practices, which they claim lacks scientific backing, calling it ‘pseudoscience’. Some students are disappointed that an engineering institute would lend legitimacy to such content.
Some campus residents are upset by organising of the event at an engineering institute, arguing that holding it at a science-focused institution could lend it undue legitimacy. One student highlighted the irony, pointing out that the institute had recently rescheduled a panel discussion featuring Bhanwari Devi, Kavita Srivatsava, and Vrinda Grover on workplace reform, only to replace it with a new set of speakers.
In response, an institute official defended the seminar, stating it was organised by the Sanskrit Cell and is not pseudoscience.
“It is not a politically sensitive issue and therefore it did not go to the institute’s review committee. Indian knowledge and science should be analysed and should remain open for discussion. Garbha Vigyan means ‘systematic study of pregnancy’ and highlights healthy pregnancy practices from Ayurveda based on experience,” the official said.
He also clarified that the gender cell event was not canceled but rescheduled with a new set of speakers.
Another student, quoted as saying in the ToI report, said that the institute wants students to know about the struggles of women at workplace, stating that, “The unfortunate part is there seems to be no apparent resistance from campus community to such a regressive step.”
The event’s organisation has sparked a wider debate about the balance between traditional knowledge and scientific inquiry, with some students seeing the event as a regressive step for the campus.
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IIT Mumbai promoting pseudoscience? Campus flutters over ‘science of begetting a good progeny’ event
