Bridging the Gap: The Kerala Sastrasahitya Parishad (KSSP) and the Structural Challenges of Science Popularization in India

Abstract

This essay analyzes the ongoing difficulties of scientific popularization in India, focusing on the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), one of the most successful grassroots science groups in India. KSSP's "science for social revolution" model characterized by extensive literacy campaigns, public lectures, accessible vernacular publications, and cultural instruments such as street plays has attained significant success in Kerala, however its replication across India is constrained. This study asserts that KSSP's success is not just attributable to its methodologies but is dependent on a distinctive convergence of socio-political elements particular to Kerala, including its history of social reform and elevated literacy rates. In addition to the lack of similar conducive habitat, extensive scientific popularization initiatives across India are obstructed also by entrenched, systemic obstacles including lesser social mobility across classes and other social sects, lack of funding, the dominance of English in science communication and a continual conservative, top-down institutional methodology that repudiates community involvement along with a general atmosphere of superstition, skepticism, partisanship, and the widespread dissemination of disinformation.This essay attempts a critical survey of KSSP's grassroots tactics and contrasts them with the national context to identify important structural constraints. The conclusion advocates  a redefined framework to enhance