A lifeline for Indian science

Source- The post is based on the article “A lifeline for Indian science” published in the “Business Standard” on 27th June 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Science and Technology

Relevance- Issues related to scientific research in India

News- In 2009, Ramaswamy Subramanian, a leading researcher in the US, set up the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) at National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru.

However, the original purpose of identifying five or six complex research problems in life sciences did not materialise.

What are the issues related to scientific research in India?

Outcome vs output: The central focus is on publishing academic papers in prestigious journals, rather than on discovering real-world applications.

Research grants only on paper: The government allocates research budgets. But, the funds are either not disbursed or experience delays in disbursing. Departmental secretaries are aware but helpless.

There were Financial advisors, usually at the level of an undersecretary. He has control over money matters and reports to the expenditure secretary in the finance ministry. Consequently, departmental secretaries seldom had the power to get the funds disbursed.

Without research grants coming through on time, the actual work remained shrouded in uncertainty. Over time, any ambitious research effort is impacted by bureaucratic red tape and long delays in importing reagents and expensive instruments.

The risks of raising external funding: Private donors are willing to contribute. On occasion, private donors made a significant contribution to the research budget.

But, the financial advisors in the bureaucracy would reduce the share of the government’s contribution. They would demand accountability for how the money was spent, even the portion that came from the private sector.

Family foundations that came forward to support research wanted updates on progress rather than details on how the money was being spent.

But the scientists themselves are reluctant to be accountable for outcomes. They simply furnish the same utilisation certificate that they were used to sharing with the bureaucracy. This is an endemic issue.

The result is that India spends a minuscule 0.6% of its gross domestic product on research, compared to the global average of 1.8%.

What is the silver lining visible in the field of scientific research?

A growing pool of philanthropic capital, both in India and in the Indian diaspora, is gradually coming into play.

Long-standing philanthropists like Nadir Godrej, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Smita Crishna, G V Prasad, Sunil Handa, Nandan and Rohini Nilekani are recognising the need to fund specific challenges that Indian science can address.

The obvious advantage is that it comes without any institutional baggage.

What is the way forward for boosting scientific research in India?

Younger generation of tech entrepreneurs in India don’t seem inclined to invest their wealth in scientific research. There is a need to tap new gen entrepreneurs in the Indian diaspora.