India spends just 0.7% of its GDP on research, while China spends more than 2%.
Posted on – 12:15 AM, Fri – 6 January 23
India spends just 0.7% of its GDP on research, while China spends more than 2%.
Hyderabad: The Indian Science Congress, the largest gathering of the scientific community, is back after a disruption caused by the pandemic, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding its 108th annual event in Nagpur via virtual mode. Rather than making clichéd speeches and bombastic claims, this is an opportunity to seriously reflect on the status and achievements of Indian science and its place in the global order. The country’s highly bureaucratic and patronage-driven scientific management needs urgent reform. Critical thinking and innovative thinking need to be fostered and encouraged. Insufficient research and development (R&D) spending has been the bane of Indian science. It needs to be corrected if the country is to contribute significantly globally.
Over the years, the annual gathering has become a prisoner of clichés, with dignitaries delivering the same speeches year after year. The call to bring research results to ordinary people’s doorsteps and create inclusive science policies has become all too familiar and predictable. This time, Modi supported the use of science as a tool to make India an “Atmanirbhar”, but did not elaborate on his government’s action plan in this regard. The country’s performance is far from encouraging on key parameters such as spending on science as a percentage of GDP, the number of PhDs produced each year or citations to Indian papers in the scientific literature. India spends around 0.7% of its GDP on research, while China spends more than 2%.
India has the fourth most PhDs in the world, but this figure has to be weighed against the size of our population. Although India ranks third in the number of academic papers, after the US and China, the impact and overall quality vary widely. Currently, small, elite research institutes receive the majority of funding, while universities receive very little research funding. Universities thus focus primarily on teaching, which leads to a clear separation of education and research – thus affecting both. The main reason for the poor performance of experimental science is the lack of significant collaborative efforts and sustained long-term funding. With a large youth population and a strong diaspora that is wealthier and more accomplished, India has huge potential to pioneer high-tech innovation. It is important to acknowledge the significant contribution of Indian scientists on board and leverage their learnings through collaboration.
A complete overhaul of the science education and research system, removing bureaucracy, changing structures to improve management, and creating numerous centers of excellence around exceptional talent would go a long way toward realizing its true potential. Technology is the key to India’s development. Scientific efforts can only achieve greatness if they go out of the laboratory and go to the earth, affecting the whole world to the grassroots.
