Now, Satyapal Singh wants international meet on Darwinism

Days after unleashing a storm in academic circles by claiming that Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution "is scientifically wrong" and should not be taught in schools, junior human resource development (HRD) minister Satyapal Singh said on Monday the Centre was planning a "grand conference" to ascertain the reliability of Darwinism.

"The ministry of HRD is ready to sponsor an international conference where scientists can come out and say where they stand on the issue. Evolutionists, Darwinists should all come... and decide what is true," Singh said. He was at IIT-Guwahati to review the functioning of centrally-funded educational institutions in the Northeast.

Asked if the government planned to withdraw Darwin's theory from academic curricula in India, Singh said, "Only those lessons should be taught in classes that are based on evidence."

"About 100 years ago, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists in the world, said there are three criteria to judge if a theory is scientifically sound or not. On the basis of those criteria, he concluded the theory of evolution was not scientific. I have a list of around 10-15 great scientists of the world who have said there is no evidence to prove that the theory of evolution is correct," Singh added.