Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 23 August 2017
Scientific Research
LOT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
It is indeed
disturbing to note that scientists staged “March for Science” recently in
various cities demanding more funds for science and opposing what they termed
as propagation of “unscientific, obscurantist ideas and religious intolerance”.
The campaign involved
academic institutions in major cities including Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi,
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ranchi and Thiruvanthapuram, and highlighted the need to
focus on scientific research in a judicious manner. The demand is for an increase
in funding for science, which unfortunately has been coming down, and to ensure
that education systems impart ideas supported by scientific evidence and enact
policies based on scientific evidence. Moreover, the marchers want the
government to increase the overall spending on science from less than one per
cent of India’s GDP to around 3 per cent.
Clearly, these are
testimony to the growing resentment by scientists across the country over the
lack of funding for research. However, though the country has made some
progress in scientific research, which is obviously not comparable with China
or a few other rapidly developing countries, there are areas that have been
neglected. One is aware of the unique achievements of India in the area of
space research which are comparable to the developed world. There are a few
other sectors where scientific research has been quite significant.
A significant
development recently reveals that basic research is being sidelined in favour
of applied research. The amount earmarked in the budget for the IITs in the
current fiscal is Rs 7171 crores -- over 40 per cent increase from the previous
year -- the allocation for IISERs is down to Rs 600 crores this year from Rs
720 crores in 2016-17. One cannot deny the fact that basic and applied sciences
are equally important and specially at such a juncture when the government is
talking about innovation in every field.
It needs to be
pointed out that basic research in sciences provides the basis for application
in various sectors that has happened in India over the years. Whatever we have
achieved in space science or medical science or even in the IT sector has its origins
in the knowledge generated through years of hard research by scientists in
basic sciences. For example, pure mathematics has applications in a variety of
subjects including physics, biology and natural sciences and even economic
theory.
The applications are
easily achieved and come in for praise but the work behind these is quite
strenuous. Say for example the creation of space colonies that can only be
possible via thorough knowledge of ecological and geological sciences, areas
where not much importance is being given. As a well-known scientist recently
pointed out, the conditions under which a plant or animal thrives, how they
reproduce, how they interact with new geological settings -- all these need
further research before developing space colonies and can be done only be basic
sciences.
In this connection,
it needs to be mentioned that the Prime Minister had last year talked about
giving priority to areas such as water, energy and health care. Thus, the focus
areas in science, apart from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),
have been the above mentioned. But unfortunately, science departments of Universities
suffer from lack of funds though new IITs and IISERs have been opened in the past
one year or so where research is encouraged.
Some two years ago, the
then minister for science and technology pointed out that basic science
research would be a thrust area of this government in tune with the founding
vision of the country for attaining self-sufficiency and chart a proper course
of development. This has not been translated into reality.
The current agitation
pertains to the fact that Indian science has not witnessed any significant rise
in funding in recent times and is, in fact, crippled by an unprecedented fund
crunch. There are indications that scientific research is not getting any
meaningful encouragement in the country as a majority of research institutes
are facing severe problems. The fact that Indian science has not performed well
as expected of it can also be put down to funding or lack thereof.
The problem mainly
stems from shortage of funds apart from the fact these are also not received in
time. There are inordinate delays sometimes, more than six and even up to nine
months. This delay has, no doubt, hampered research work to a considerable
extent. Some research institutions have been seriously affected and many of
their projects have been curtailed. This situation mainly prevails in
universities and basic science research institutions.
The worst affected
are students or research scholars and technicians who work on projects as they
do not get salaries for months and even years due to such funding discrepancy,
leading them to sometimes drop out of research programmes. The scenario is
completely different in the technologically successfully nations where scientists
do not face such humiliating situation.
The scenario is
starkly different in the Indian pharma and biotech companies who have
strategically built their own ‘translational islands’ to do such jobs with
remarkable success. On the other and, a vast majority of Indian scientists
working in national laboratories plead helplessness at their discoveries being
stuck in bureaucratic red-tapism.
Whether the financial
crisis coupled with expansion of technical and engineering education has hit
the core areas of science is unknown but there is no denying that R&D has
suffered. China, on the other hand, managed to double its investments in
R&D in just five years from 2008. According to a recent report from
Organization of Economic Cooperation (OECD), China would soon be the top nation
in the world for R&D spending, overtaking Israel.
It goes without
saying that core research has to be encouraged and more funds need to be directed
towards basic sciences. To start with, around 30-35 universities have to
identified, apart from the central universities, where a major thrust has to be
given for research in sciences. The Department of Science & Technology
(DST) could garner more funds for these and other universities for projects
related to basic sciences.
Apart from the
government, there is also need for the private sector to invest in R&D.
Unfortunately in our country, the private sector has invested the least in
scientific and technological research compared with other rapidly developing
countries, including those in BRICS. If there is some sort of pressure by the
government on the private sector and that rebates are given for such funding, there
are expectations that the situation may change in the coming years.
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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