Editorial: Reform science administration

India spends just about 0.7% of its GDP on research, compared with over 2% by China.

Hyderabad: After a pandemic-induced hiatus, the Indian Science Congress, the largest gathering of the scientific community, is back with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the 108th edition of the annual event in Nagpur through virtual mode. Instead of dishing out hackneyed speeches and bombastic claims, the occasion must be used for serious introspection on the status and achievements of Indian science and its place in the global order. The highly bureaucratised and patronage-driven science administration in the country needs urgent reforms. Critical thinking and innovative ideas need to be fostered and encouraged. Poor spending on research and development (R&D) has been the bane of Indian science. It needs to be corrected if the country wants to make a major mark at the global level.

The annual gathering has, over the years, become a prisoner of clichés with dignitaries churning out the same speeches year after year. Calls for taking the fruits of research to the doorstep of the common man and formulating an inclusive science policy have become boringly familiar and predictable. This time, Modi rooted for using science as a tool to make India ‘Atmanirbhar’, without elaborating on his government’s action plan on this. On key parameters like the expenditure on science as a percentage of GDP, the number of PhDs produced annually or citations to papers from India in scientific literature, the country’s performance has been far from inspiring. India spends about 0.7% of its GDP on research, compared with over 2% by China.

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India produces the fourth largest number of PhDs in the world, but this number must be weighed against the sheer size of our population. Though India ranks third in terms of the number of academic papers, behind the United States and China, their impact and overall quality are considerably less. Currently, small elite research institutions get a lion’s share of the grants, while universities get very less research funds. Consequently, universities focus mainly on teaching, which has resulted in a clear segregation of education and research – thereby affecting both. Poor performance in experimental sciences is attributed mainly to the lack of significant collaborative efforts and sustained long-term funding. With a large youth population and a strong diaspora that is more affluent and accomplished, India has great potential in pioneering high-tech innovation. It is important to acknowledge the significant contributions of Indian scientists aboard and capitalise on their learning through collaboration.

Overhauling the science education and research system, elimination of bureaucracy, structural changes for better administration and creating a large number of centres of excellence around outstanding individuals would go a long way in harnessing the true potential. Science and technology hold the key to unlocking India’s development. Efforts of science can turn into great achievements only when they come out of the lab and reach the land, and their impact reaches from global to grassroots.