The Prayas ePathshala

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24 October 2024 – The Indian Express

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How can we improve the Research Scenario of India 

The main purpose of NRF is:

The three main goals of the NRF are as follows:

  • Strengthening the capability of educational institutions;
  • Second, encouraging excellence in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research
  • Encouraging research that will benefit society.
  • These goals will necessitate not just a sizable financial investment but also trained human resources to ensure the best possible use of financial resources, as well as an efficient and flexible governance strategy.

The challenges facing publically funded research in ecology:

  • When it comes to the ecology of publicly funded research, battles are fought on two fronts.
  • The first is a lack of funding, and the second is a lack of flexibility in laws and regulations.
  • The optimum benchmark for preserving a competitive advantage is usually acknowledged to be a gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) of 2% of GDP, despite the fact that Israel, South Korea, the United States, Germany, and a few other nations invest more than 3% annually. In contrast, India’s GERD has remained stable over the past 20 years at roughly 0.7% of GDP.

With private support, the ANRF is anticipated to increase research funding:

  • Once the ANRF is constituted, the government intends to invest Rs 50,000 crore over the ensuing five years.
  • Until the government increases the financial allocation of Rs 16,361 crore for the ministry of science and technology in 2023, effective finance would dramatically decline. GERD will not meet the 2% threshold even when combined.
  • To close this deficit, the ANRF-2023 Bill will look for sizable private sector contributions. In the US and the UK, more than 50% of GERD cases are related to industry, as opposed to 35% in India.
  • Despite the challenges, there remains room for industrial synergy. Despite the fact that funding for scientific research is provided by corporate social responsibility (CSR) rules, projects are only eligible for up to a year’s worth of assistance.
  • The CSR option would be feasible if regulations could be amended to establish a corpus and offer a 3-5-year rollover of monies pledged for research purposes. Despite the restrictions, India needs to embrace the idea of leveraging endowments or CSR to finance basic and applied research from private sources.

It will make research easier:

  • For a very long time, scientists have bemoaned the burdensome bureaucracy and its detrimental consequences on the environment.
  • The primary issues are the fast distribution of grants and their adaptability in use. The STIP-2020 recognises the requirement for “General Financial Rules to be amended for funding of R&D projects to facilitate ease of doing research.”
  • The bill that was proposed is the result of quick money availability for the research as well as an open-minded approach.

Conclusion:

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked in a speech to the Indian Science Congress that scientists and researchers should “explore the mysteries of science and not of government procedures.” “Application requirements should not be more complex than research for scientific projects.”
  • Administrative structures under ANRF must help in recalibrating practises and attitudes in order to maximise India’s research potential.

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