CHENNAI: With the objective to raise awareness on climate change, education, and scientific temper, the 'India March for Science' awareness rally was held at Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai on Sunday.

The students demanded to stop the propagation of unscientific and obscurantist ideas and develop a scientific temper in conformity with Article 51A of the Constitution.

They also demanded to ensure that the education system did not impart ideas that contradict scientific evidence in the name of 'Indian Knowledge Systems'.

Dr Venkatesan convener said, "We demand allocation of at least 10 per cent of the Central Budget and 3 per cent of the country's GDP for scientific, technological, and social science research. Protect the environment and take effective steps to counter climate change. Stop rampant exploitation of the country's natural resources."

He also advised repealing the decision to drop Darwin's theory of evolution, Mendeleev's periodic table, and the history of the Mughal period from the school syllabus.

He also raised the demand to increase the number of Ph.D. and postdoc fellowships and repeal the decision to abolish nearly 300 awards.

More than 100 people participated in the rally. IMFS volunteers, IIT Madras search scholars, school students, and children also participated in the rally.