August 9 will witness science rallies in major cities of India. The motive of the pan-India march will be to do away with unscientific beliefs and to press for increase in funding for research activities.

Spearheaded by Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), the gatherings would see the members of scientific community standing in defence of science and scientific attitude in an open and visible manner as done by scientists and science enthusiasts worldwide.

Scientists from research institutes across New Delhi will take part in a rally, ‘March for Science’ on August 9 to protest against cuts in research funding.

The march will start from Mandi House at 4pm and end at Jantar Mantar.

The March for Science movement started globally in April. On Earth Day on April 22, scientists ditched their labs and hit the streets in over 600 cities, in what was dubbed as the largest ever protest by science advocates against US President Donald Trump.

“It is an organic thing. We will start the march at 4pm and express our views as we move along”, said Dr. Chetana Sachidanandan, Senior Scientist, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi.

“We expect around 500-600 people to be a part of this rally”, stated Dr. Vinay Kumar, Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University.