In India’s Unequal Research System, Frugal Labs Are Bittersweet Gems

Jugaad is that unique Indian ability to resourcefully solve technical and organisational problems. It is widely regarded as a virtue that makes Indians more ‘innovative’ and ‘efficient’.

Yet the romanticism surrounding jugaad often obscures the circumstances that make it necessary.

Far away from India’s well-supplied ‘institutes of national importance’, in state colleges and universities, where most of India’s science students study, centres of research called frugal labs are helping overcome a severe lack of facilities.