EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : Hints of the corporatisation of science research in India
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: The Hindu
• Prelims: Government initiative for Research and higher education, National Research Foundation, National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill 2023, Dehradun declaration, GATI, KIRAN, STEM, NEP etc
• Mains GS Paper I & II: Social empowerment, development and management of social sectors/services related to Education and women empowerment etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
• During the inaugural address of the 107th Science Congress in Bengaluru, the Prime Minister reflected on the government’s take on how science should be conducted in India.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill 2023:
• The Bill seeks to repeal the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Act 2008 The SERB was established as a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) It carries out almost the same or similar functions which the NRF proposes to do.
• The SERB was established as a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
• It carries out almost the same or similar functions which the NRF proposes to do.
• The SERB will be subsumed into the NRF.
• It will establish NRF, as an apex body to provide “high-level strategic direction” to scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP)
• Total estimated cost of ₹50,000 crore from 2023-28.
• The DST would be an “administrative” department of NRF that would be governed by a Governing Board consisting of eminent researchers and professionals across disciplines.
• The Prime Minister will be the ex-officio President of the Board and the Union Minister of Science & Technology and Union Minister of Education will be the ex-officio Vice-Presidents.
• NRF’s functioning will be governed by an Executive Council chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, the statement added.
• It repeals the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established by Parliament in 2008 and subsumes it into the NRF.
Establishment of NRF:
• It was mooted by the Kasturirangan Committee in 2019 and adopted in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
• Institutions currently funding research: DST Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) University Grants Commission (UGC) Various private and philanthropic organizations
• Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
• Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
• Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
• University Grants Commission (UGC)
• Various private and philanthropic organizations
• It would continue to fund research according to their priorities and needs independently.
Dehradun Declaration:
• It was prepared by the directors of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research labs in 2015. It was decided to market patents as a means to self-finance research
• It was decided to market patents as a means to self-finance research
• Directing laboratories and other research centers to earn their revenue from external sources by marketing their expertise Investing the surplus to develop technologies for national missions.
• Investing the surplus to develop technologies for national missions.
• It is a call for the corporatisation of science research — a process of converting any state-owned entity into a market commodity Being able to follow the business model to support itself, rather than relying on public support.
• Being able to follow the business model to support itself, rather than relying on public support.
• Science institutes are now encouraged to develop research centers registered as Section 8 companies, wherein private companies or shareholders can invest money.
#### Anusandhan National Research Foundation(ANRF)and research:
#### ● It was Established under the ANRF Act of 2023
#### ● The new mechanism is designed to fund research in the country and to improve linkages between research and development, academia and industry.
#### ● Budget speech(2024): “We will operationalise the ANRF for basic research and prototype development.”
#### ● The “prototype development” is a significant part of the innovation cycle to assess the marketability of a product
#### ● The ANRF will receive ₹50,000 crore over five years, 72% of which is expected to be from the private sector.
#### ● The government intends to reduce its role in funding the research and expects private entrepreneurship to pitch in a big way.
Science research in the United States:
• Research and development has significantly outstripped government funding over the last decade It is clustered mostly in IT and pharmaceuticals. The knowledge generated through research is considered a commodity to be marketed.
• It is clustered mostly in IT and pharmaceuticals.
• The knowledge generated through research is considered a commodity to be marketed.
• The transformation has also led to intellectual property rights allowing universities to sell the patents to private corporations, even if the research is publicly funded.
• The adoption of neoliberal economic policies across the globe has accelerated the greater involvement of the private sector in funding science.
#### Private sector involvement in science research:
#### ● ANRF will fund research in natural sciences, but in reality, there are sufficient hints that the government is planning to place the university research system subservient
#### ○ Ellen Meiksins Wood calls “the dictates of the capitalist market”.
#### ● The curiosity-driven research in natural sciences involves understanding and predicting natural phenomena based on empirical evidence and experimentation.
#### ○ The private sector cannot be expected to finance curiosity-driven science
#### ○ Because it will not invest money unless the research finds some immediate application that maximizes its profits.
#### ● The same stringency in government funding is not shown while supporting the branches of the ‘Indian Knowledge Systems’, which are not part of evidence-based science.
#### ● Science is driven by the zeal to understand the world through scientific tools.
#### ○ This can be encouraged only by increasing the share of public funding.
#### ● The research proposals in basic science need to be assessed based on the proposers’ ability to acquire knowledge about a problem defined by conducting observations, experimentation and analyses.
#### ○ The application part of the result may not be apparent at all.
#### ● A generally accepted working definition of basic scientific research reads: “the pursuit of knowledge to understand a natural process irrespective of the potential applications that might arise from such knowledge”.
• This might not be possible if the private sector takes over.
The financial outlay(Kasturirangan Committee):
• It said that the NRF would get an ‘annual grant of 20,000 Crores(0.1(zero point one)% of GDP)’.
• Research spending in the country was a meager 65(zero point six five)% of GDP compared to: 8(two point eight)% in the United States 1(two point one)% in China 3(four point three)% in Israel 2(four point two)% in South Korea.
• 8(two point eight)% in the United States
• 1(two point one)% in China
• 3(four point three)% in Israel
• 2(four point two)% in South Korea.
• It expressed concern that research and innovation spending in the country had declined from 84(zero point eight four)% of GDP in 2008 to 0.69(zero point six nine)% in 2014.
Way Forward
• Although India is ranked among the top 10 by gross domestic product (GDP), the ratio of public funding for science research in India has been 6% to 0.7% of GDP for the last decade. A country such as South Korea, only a third the size of India and its population, spends about 2% to 3% of its GDP.
• A country such as South Korea, only a third the size of India and its population, spends about 2% to 3% of its GDP.
• While the private sector is encouraged to fund, the government must increase its basic science and non-profit research allocation. If that does not happen, the country will eventually witness the decline of curiosity-driven science in our universities It will undermine public trust in science when it gets dominantly mediated by private interests.
• If that does not happen, the country will eventually witness the decline of curiosity-driven science in our universities
• It will undermine public trust in science when it gets dominantly mediated by private interests.
• Nurture an ambience of free enquiry and maintain the financial and administrative autonomy of the institutes. This should have been amplified in the ANRF Act
• This should have been amplified in the ANRF Act
• Niraja Gopal Jayal(India Forum): although the heavy hand of the educational bureaucracy has always been hovering over public universities, constraining their autonomy In recent times “the state intervention has become more manifestly political in a partisan way, openly ideological within an ecosystem that attaches no value to academic freedom”. It boils down to a grand vision, but it does not evolve in a repressive society.
• In recent times “the state intervention has become more manifestly political in a partisan way, openly ideological within an ecosystem that attaches no value to academic freedom”.
• It boils down to a grand vision, but it does not evolve in a repressive society.
• Increasing the research and development budget to 4% of GDP: A significant overhaul of the current funding system is required to boost research and to make innovation coming out of Indian organizations globally competitive.
• ANRF need certificate changes: ANRF must be adequately staffed Implement a robust grant management system Have an internal standard peer-review system with an incentive for reviewers Ensure timely disbursal of research grants and student fellowships with a quick turn-around time (less than six months) between application and fund disbursal Have a system free from bureaucratic hurdles both at the funding body and at grantee institutions Provide flexibility of spending money without following the government’s stringent general financial rules (GFR) Permit purchases without going through the Government e-marketplace (GeM) portal.
• ANRF must be adequately staffed
• Implement a robust grant management system
• Have an internal standard peer-review system with an incentive for reviewers
• Ensure timely disbursal of research grants and student fellowships with a quick turn-around time (less than six months) between application and fund disbursal
• Have a system free from bureaucratic hurdles both at the funding body and at grantee institutions
• Provide flexibility of spending money without following the government’s stringent general financial rules (GFR)
• Permit purchases without going through the Government e-marketplace (GeM) portal.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
What is the basic principle behind vaccine development? How do vaccines work? What approaches were adopted by the Indian vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines?(UPSC 2022) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)