www.insightsonindia.com/2018/02/11/insights-editorial-big-discoveries-small-origins/
InsightsIAS
Context:
Innovations in science and technology are integral to the long-term growth of any nation
and have instrumental and intrinsic value for society.
Though India can point to many contributions to global scientific knowledge, it underspends
on R&D even relative to its development.
Economic Survey 2017-18 calls for doubling Research and Development expenditure from
its current level of about 0.6% of GDP. However, it would still lag behind China (2.1), Israel
(4.3), Korea (4.2) and the U.S. (2.8), each spending more than 2% of their GDP on
research.
What could be the likely reasons for low R&D spending in India?
Public expenditure is dominant, although its share has come down from three-fourths of all
expenditures to about three-fifths.
The government is not just the primary source of R&D funding but also it’s the primary user
of these funds. Even more, government expenditure on R&D is undertaken almost entirely
by the central government.
India‘s universities play a relatively small role in the research activities of the country.
Publicly funded research in India concentrates in specialized research institutes under
different government departments and largely plays a teaching role.
It appears that fewer Indian students have been enrolling in recent years for Ph.D. degrees,
whether due to more attractive options after a master’s degree or rising work visa
challenges for other counties like USA.
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In terms of publications trends reveal a fact that India is gradually improving its
performance. However India produces fewer patents per capita. An undue delay in
processing patents penalizes innovation and innovators within the country.
India to catch up in the near future, there needs to be a greater focus on R&D in addition to
rising income levels.
India needs to redouble its efforts to improve science and R&D in the country by doubling
national expenditures on R&D coming from both public and private sector and universities.
Conclusion
Investing in educating youth in science and mathematics, reform the way R&D is
conducted, engage the private sector and the Indian diaspora, and take a more mission-
driven approach is the need of the hour in India.
Vigorous efforts to improve the “ease of doing business” need to be matched by similar
ones to boost the “ease of doing science.”
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