Thiruvananthapuram: The country needs to find ways to put scientists, technocrats and technologists on a higher pedestal and showcase to the people how their work contributes to the wealth of the nation, said S Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

India will rise to be a technologically powerful nation only through the work of such people. "And if we create the wealth of the nation through the work of the technocrats, technologists, and scientists, we will definitely be a powerful country one day," he said.

Somanath was speaking after being made an 'honorary fellow' of the Kerala Academy of Sciences at CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who was the chief guest at the event, said ancient India was a knowledge economy but the country lost the edge when it started confining knowledge to a few. That was "why history has been so cruel to us", he said.

"We have always been known as worshipers of Mother Saraswati, known for the pursuit of knowledge. But a time came when our adoration was confined to mere lip service. We continued the acquisition of knowledge but we stopped sharing the knowledge with others. Then we denied access to knowledge to a large part of our country," he said.

Kerala Academy of Sciences, an organisation of scientists, academics, engineers, physicians, and technocrats in the science, conferred honorary fellowships also on Chandrabhas Narayana, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram; Sanjay Behari, Director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram; Anandharamakrishnan C, Director of CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram; Mohanan Kunnummal, Vice Chancellor of Kerala University of Health Sciences and the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram; and Ramchand C N, president, and CEO, Saksin Lifesciences, Chennai.