{"id":249804,"date":"2023-06-27T20:33:56","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T15:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=249804"},"modified":"2023-08-31T16:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T10:48:38","slug":"a-lifeline-for-indian-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/a-lifeline-for-indian-science\/","title":{"rendered":"A lifeline for Indian science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source-<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cA lifeline for Indian science\u201d published in the \u201cBusiness Standard\u201d on 27th June 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus:<\/strong> GS3- Science and Technology<\/p>\n

Relevance-<\/strong> Issues related to scientific research in India<\/p>\n

News-<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

However, the original purpose of identifying five or six complex research problems in life sciences did not materialise.<\/p>\n

What are the issues related to scientific research in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Outcome vs output<\/strong>: The central focus is on publishing academic papers in prestigious journals<\/strong>, rather than on discovering real-world applications. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

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

The risks of raising external funding<\/strong>: Private donors are willing to contribute<\/strong>. On occasion, private donors made a significant contribution<\/strong> to the research budget.<\/p>\n

But, the financial advisors in the bureaucracy would reduce the share of the government\u2019s contribution. They would demand accountabilit<\/strong>y for how the money was spent, even the portion that came from the private sector.<\/p>\n

Family foundations that came forward to support research wanted updates on progress rather than details<\/strong> on how the money was being spent.<\/p>\n

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

The result is that India spends a minuscule 0.6% of its gross domestic product<\/strong> on research, compared to the global average of 1.8%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the silver lining visible in the field of scientific research?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A growing pool of philanthropic capital<\/strong>, both in India and in the Indian diaspora, is gradually coming into play.<\/p>\n

Long-standing philanthropists<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

The obvious advantage is that it comes without any institutional baggage. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the way forward for boosting scientific research in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Younger generation of tech entrepreneurs<\/strong> in India don\u2019t seem inclined to invest their wealth in scientific research. There is a need to tap new gen entrepreneurs in the Indian diaspora<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source- The post is based on the article \u201cA lifeline for Indian science\u201d published in the \u201cBusiness Standard\u201d 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… Continue reading A lifeline for Indian science<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[10503,216,242],"class_list":["post-249804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-business-standard","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-science-and-technology","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":2,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1703542806},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}