Govt unveils ambitious plan to set India’s research priorities

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ambitious project to set up an apex body to guide national priorities for research that include forging global partnerships and providing a level playing field for smaller state universities that often fall in the rain shadow of their more influential peers such as IITs and well-funded private universities.

The promise to set up a National Research Foundation was announced in 2019 ahead of the national election and found mention thereafter in the President’s address to Parliament and the finance minister’s July 5 speech the same year. Work on the NRF was interrupted by the Covid pandemic but found new legs about six months ago with the department of science and technology launching a concerted effort to study equivalent bodies in other nations like the National Science Foundation in the US.

The Cabinet decision will lead to a bill that will be introduced in Parliament, and given the scope of the legislation, is expected to be referred to a standing committee headed by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. The NRF will receive Rs 50,000 crore in funding over the next five years, with Rs 36,000 crore to be tapped from non-government sources. This is a key element of the plan and the government remains optimistic about the response to the initiative, pointing to the willingness of donors such as the Bill Gates Foundation as well as domestic entities to contribute to better development outcomes in India.

Interacting with media persons on Wednesday, minister for science and technology Jitendra Singh said one of NRF’s important objectives is to correct a large skew in funding that goes to more established institutes and universities, even in terms of government funds. In the 2023 Budget, the IITs have an allocation of Rs 9,600 crore with Rs 8,000 crore as grants. “There is a need to support state universities and ensure a major upgrade for their infrastructure and the NRF will help direct funds to them,” said Singh.

The minister said there would be no diminution of the funding to IITs and nor would other assistance offered by the DST to students and institutions be cut back or reduced. Top institutions were, however, well capable of raising funding with industry as well as successful alums filling their coffers. Just a few days ago, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani announced a donation of Rs 315 crore to his alma mater IIT, Bombay.

Asked whether Indian corporates would contribute to the NRF rather than supporting particular projects of their interest, as was the often the case in industry-academia collaborations, Singh said the improvements in infrastructure and skills will help industry and business as institutes in smaller cities also contribute to the talent pool. “We have to take the necessary first steps. I am confident the funds will come in and, in fact, the response may well surprise us,” he said.

The NRF will set the high level “strategic direction” for research in India and the Prime Minister will be ex-officio president of the board and the minister of science and technology and minister of education will be the ex-officio vice-presidents. NRF’s functioning will be governed by an executive council chaired by the principal scientific adviser to the government, said a press release. The council will have five members from industry, two with science and technology credentials and one from humanities as well. There will be six other experts and two members from the Prime Minister’s science, technology and innovation council. Principal Scientific Advisor Prof Ajay Sood will oversee the functioning of the council.

Dr Akhilesh Gupta, secretary, science and engineering research board, will have a key role too. The SERB and its staff of 4,000 will be assimilated into the NRF. The foundation is expected to provide focus and coherence to research in India which tends to be scattered between dozens of government agencies, public universities at the Centre and in states and private institutions. For a country with limited resources, ensuring focus on areas that are relevant will deliver much greater bang for the buck.

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