Investment in science & technology to double: PM

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Shillong: There may not be a full fledged Union Budget in February end as the country is bracing up for a general election within next three months.

Yet the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh reiterated his promise at the 96th Indian Science Congress on Saturday to double the investment in science and technology from one per cent of the national income to 2% of the national income.

Earlier at the 94th Indian Science Congress at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu he had made the same assurance which did not materialise as yet.

Reacting to the Prime Minister's proposal the then President, APJ Abdul Kalam said at the same venue that the funds allotted to ministries and departments dealing with science and technology were not properly utilised.

However, the present General President of the Indian Science Congress and secretary of science and technology, T Ramasami said that investments into research and development have started assuming an important benchmark for calibrating the national preparedness for meeting the emerging challenges of the global knowledge economies.

Significant outlays for research and development from public funds should be justified by way of matching public goods. The percentage share of technology-led manufacturing in our GDP growth should become significant, he said and added ‘we need to review and right-size the science and technology machinery as well.’

According to Ramasami India's R&D base may need to be at least trebled within next five years.

Data on S&T output indicators reveal a 8% increase in the number of publications, 20% in citations and 11% in citations per paper and the essential ity of planned interventions for promotion of education and research in areas like mathematics, computer science and social sciences. A recent study has shown that 35 institutions have contributed to about 47% of publications from India during 1996-2006, amongst which 14 are from universities.