This story is from January 21, 2021

Opinion: What scientific community expects in Budget 2021

Opinion: What scientific community expects in Budget 2021
Soumitro Banerjee, professor, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research
Today, the Indian economy is the third-largest in the world in terms of its GDP (purchasing power parity). However, this prowess is not reflected in the knowledge generated within the country because of the poor support education and science receives from the government – which has remained stagnant in the range 0.8%-0.9% of the GDP for far too long.

Other countries with similar aspirations have provided financial support for science exceeding 3% of GDP. For example, South Korea spends 4.15% of its GDP on scientific and technological research; Japan spends 3.47%, Sweden 3.16%, and Denmark 3.08% when calculated based on purchasing power parity. Even developing countries like Mexico, Malaysia, Brazil, and Turkey are ahead of India in R&D spending.
Despite such dismal support for science, scientists from India have played a commendable role in the discovery of gravitational waves and of Higgs Boson, in the interplanetary mission through Mangalyaan and in reducing foreign dependence through the development of indigenous satellite launching capability.
But in recent times the situation has worsened. Financial support to even premier institutions like IITs, NITs and IISERs has been slashed. They have been asked to raise the operational expenses from students' fees, thus making these systems out of reach of students coming from poor and lower-middle-class families.
The plight of universities is even more dire. The reduced governmental support has impacted research funding agencies like DST, DBT and CSIR.
Scientists in government laboratories are being asked to generate a part of their salary by selling their inventions and other sources. In 2017, the CSIR declared a financial emergency.
India's scientific community urges that the financial outlay for research and development be increased to 3% of GDP to build a robust science ecosystem necessary for consistently high-quality research output.

The education system supplies the scientific workforce of any country, and the education system's robust health is an essential prerequisite for a country's success in science and technology. But the support for education presents an even more dismal picture.
Currently, India stands 134th in terms of the expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP. Around 40 countries spend more than 6% of their GDP on education, including developing countries like Tunisia, Jamaica, Vietnam, Kenya and Venezuela. The United States spends 6.4%, New Zealand 6.9%, North Korea 6.7%, Norway 6.5%, Israel 6.5%, Denmark 8.7%, Belgium 6.6%, Finland 6.8% and Cuba 12.4% of GDP.
The New Education Policy (2020) document admits that "public expenditure on education in India has not come close to the recommended level of 6% of GDP, as envisaged by the 1968 Policy, reiterated in the Policy of 1986, and which was further reaffirmed in the 1992 review of the Policy" (Article 26.1).
Due to India's inadequate funding for education, the school, college and university systems fail to produce high-quality scientific and technological manpower for the country.
Talented students choose careers abroad because of the inadequacy of facilities available in the scientific institutions and the limited number of career opportunities available in scientific research. None of our institutions ranks among the top 100 in the world.
The situation is crying out for urgent redressal. We are glad to note that the New Education Policy envisages a more significant outlay, 6% of the GDP, for education.
Article 26.2 of NEP says that "In order to attain the goal of education with excellence and the corresponding multitude of benefits to this Nation and its economy, this Policy unequivocally endorses and envisions a substantial increase in public investment in education by both the Central government and all State Governments. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest. This is considered extremely critical for achieving the high-quality and equitable public education system that is truly needed for India's future economic, social, cultural, intellectual, and technological progress and growth."
The scientific community of the country expects that the Government will keep its commitment this time.
(By Soumitro Banerjee, professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Kolkata, and All-India General Secretary, Breakthrough Science Society. The views expressed are personal.)
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