'Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu claimed that his wife beat Stage IV breast cancer thanks to a special diet of neem leaves and alkaline water. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, recently shared a video of a travelling ticket examiner performing CPR on a fully conscious elderly passenger. These incidents would be amusing if they weren’t so dangerous. A peculiar brand of medical misinformation that comes with an official stamp of approval is at play here. It speaks volumes about the state of scientific literacy among our leaders. This is the result of a carefully cultivated ecosystem where scientific temper has been systematically dismantled. The transformation of fringe theories into institutional policy was so gradual that many missed it. It started with our scientific institutions being demolished. Having replaced scientific temper with superstition, we’re now watching the cost being calculated not in crores, but in preventable tragedies,' says Karanjeet Kaur, journalist and former editor of Arré, in this week's column.