BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY 33 policy which depleted the plant's experienced and trained personnel, overloaded plant staff and led to stationing of untrained personnel in critical areas of the plant. The accident has also exposed the utter inadequacy of the safety equipment, even had they been in working order. The entire plant was utterly underdesigned with respect to safety and stand-by systems, control and monitoring facilities, safety barriers, etc. Computerised monitoring and control systems had not been provided in the Bhopal plant, unlike in the U.S. parent plant. There is sufficient evidence to show that the entire technology package transferred to India in Bhopal is obsolescent. Our investigations have thus convincingly brought home once again, in extremely tragic form, the truth that. multinational corporations operating in third world countries pay scant attention even to technological imperatives for ensuring human safety, in contrast to the measures they adopt under the vigilant eyes of the people of Europe and the U.S.A. The Bhopal accident starkly exemplifies the inherent tragedy of the logic of pursuing maximum profits at minimum costs, more so in third world countries whose populations are considered expendable by MNC's. Apart from the production plant, in the course of investigations made by the DSF team, certain intriguing aspects of the R&D set-up of Union Carbide at Bhopal have come to light. This R&D effort relates to carbamate-based pesticides, a pilot plant and field trials in experimental farm plots. Recently, the UCIL's R&D representatives have entered into a collaboration agreement with the UCC(USA) to conduct experiments to synthesise new molecules, test them on tropical pests at Bhopal and supply the research data for an annual fee of US $300,000. The research is aimed at the development of pesticides suitable for tropical conditions and the facilities, reputed to be among the best in the world, include three green-houses and five insect-rearing laboratories. It must be noted that this JR<&D covers the grey area between peaceful application and biological warfare. It needs to be noted that at- present the information called for by government for the transfer of technology under foreign collaboration, in-house R&D recognition and renewal, etc. do not focus on pertinent scientific and technical details or on in-depth assessment of these by S&T experts from national laboratories, defence organizations engineering and design organizations and R&D units of public undertakings. Far greater nodalised emphasis is thus required in the decision-making, regulatory and follow-up mechanisms relating to foreign collaboration and in-house R&D^ recognition and renewal. The Bhopal Tragedy has also underlined the need for attention* being paid to several broad issues. The scientific community must, in co-ordination with legal experts and informed public opinion; urgently focus on : factory laws; specific safety measures to be instituted under labour laws; acts related to air and water pollution and their enlargement