Scientists and a wish list for the incoming government

Premium

With 970 million Indians in the process of exercising their franchise in the ongoing general election, what do scientists look for in the polls? Who do they want to vote for, and what are the fundamental issues they want to see their elected representatives resolve and implement?

There are five fundamental issues that scientists want the new government to solve and their elected representatives to pay urgent attention to.

Increase spending

First, an increase in the nation’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development (currently below 0.7% of GDP), both from the government exchequer and private players (who contribute less than 40% of the current spending). Government spending on research and development should increase by at least 50% year-over-year in the next five years, accounting for nearly 4% of GDP at the end of the incoming government’s term. How can the private sector spending on research and development go up? One such avenue is contributing to the recently established Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), where the private sector is expected to contribute ₹36,000 crore over five years.

Although a legislative route to facilitate this is envisioned, the incoming government needs to implement a more detailed plan and establish mechanisms akin to escrow accounts guaranteeing this funding. Increased funding will require raising the skilled scientific workforce to spend the money judiciously, and in time, including bringing new and nurturing existing human resources.

Second, public sector institutions’ physical and intellectual infrastructure, such as universities and research institutions, must be improved. Modernising science laboratories in undergraduate colleges, State and central universities, and specialised research institutions is badly required. Providing a better infrastructure for students and scientists to stay and practise their trade is also needed. Upgrading infrastructure will not only require hiring more quality teachers and researchers to fill the sanctioned positions but also doubling that number effectively over the next five years. However, hiring more people to practise competitive science will only help if we have a robust and unbiased system to bring the best.

Focus on merit

Third, making hiring in educational and research institutions to a globally accepted standard that is transparent, fast and free from any influence. The criteria for selection should be strictly based on merit, with a competent committee capable of choosing the right person for the right job free from any outside influence. It should be at the most six months from the time of application to the time of providing the appointment letters. There are established global norms for hiring quality teachers and scientists, and we must follow the same process.

Fourth, a robust science grant management system to facilitate research will be required, one with less red tape in grant submission, one that makes faster and timely grant and student fellowship disbursal, one that demands no hard copy submission, and one that gives autonomy to individual scientists on how and what they want to spend on for their research. A robust system and an increased workforce are needed to allow various departments within science ministries to spend their allocated budget before the end of each financial year and streamline fund disbursal to scientists in time.

Effective spending at the level of scientists also means providing flexibility to purchase from places other than the government’s e-marketplace (which is mandated now and forces scientists to buy, at times, lower quality, sub-par “Made in India” products due to low overall price) and providing flexibility to scientists to deviate from the general financial rules, if required. The money is well spent when scientists purchase what they need for their research over the cheapest available products. This can be done while making scientists accountable for the spending.

Ensure freedom

Finally, the last but the most critical implementation that scientists look forward to is the freedom to speak and write on their subjects based on evidence and which is free from interference. Academia without a flourishing start-up ecosystem will not produce innovation for the masses. Although successive governments have done a great deal to promote innovation and entrepreneurship on Indian campuses, the true spirit of innovation will come when the incoming government provides full autonomy to individual scientists to take leave to form companies, have flexibility in hiring the right scientific staff in their laboratories without excessive paperwork and administrative processes, and the freedom to spend money on where they deem fit and to travel to national and international conferences. While doing so, scientists need to be accountable for the quality of their science rather than merely following the processes, for the quality of the products/solutions that come out of their laboratories (those who work on applied science subjects) and for the quality of knowledge that they create and impart to younger minds.

For India to aspire to be the second largest economy by 2050, the incoming government must improve the ease of doing science and provide scientists the complete freedom to think and implement, away from excessive bureaucratic and administrative processes and paperwork. While supporting our researchers in creating wealth and jobs for society through innovation and entrepreneurship, it is vitally important that the incoming government also invests in fundamental science and knowledge creation. One cannot exist without the other. Scientists, although small in number, form an essential electoral block that can influence decision-making for the larger public good.

Binay Panda is a Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi