Science governance in India must be energised
Covid-19 unleashed unprecedented turmoil and disruption within the global power structure. The unravelling of policy and politics in the developed world was a revelation. The one thread that held these countries together was their dominance in science. But the dominant voice of science had to fight a political class that refused to acknowledge scientific advice on Covid-19.
India was fortunate. The country’s political leadership listened to experts and created structures that adapted rapidly to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, the response may not have been perfect, but there was 100% political will to mitigate and manage the pandemic.
A country as diverse as India, with a suboptimal health care system, sluggish research and development (R&D) ecosystem, red tape, a lethargic bureaucracy, and 1.3 billion people, could easily have collapsed. But it did not. While it is easier to count deaths, it is more difficult to estimate the number of lives saved. People were saved with each intervention and action and the coming together of academia, industry, and the government to rapidly find solutions.
Historically, nations have used crises to rejig governance systems and introduce new, ambitious, innovative structures. The National Science Foundation (NSF) was set up by the United States (US) after World War II to explore “how the successful application of scientific knowledge to wartime problems could be carried over into peacetime.” It strengthened college and university research systems; set up research grants, fellowships, and programmes, which were nimble and flexible. Some of the first research and fellowship grantees received the Nobel Prize.
The pandemic has created fluidness in global science leadership, with increased distrust of China and the shifting of internal political priorities within the US and the United Kingdom. India is poised to take a global leadership in science, leveraging a strong existing science and technology foundation. It is time to strengthen the R&D foundation and foster a widespread innovation culture. The pandemic illustrated that ambitious goals can be achieved by pooling resources and knowledge and the government, industry, academia, and non-governmental organisations functioning together with a shared purpose.
India is celebrating its 75 years of Independence, taking stock of its achievements, and setting a road map for world leadership in the coming decades. India has a strong network of research organisations, institutions, and universities at the central and state levels. There are 1,043 deemed universities, 135 institutions of national importance, 42,343 colleges, and 609 research labs. Time and money have been invested generously in creating world-class facilities such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, and the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. The network of universities is huge, but it is plagued by politics and a lack of funds and leadership. The neglect of institutions mandated for humanities, social sciences, design, arts, and culture is so profound that they do not even feature in any discourse of importance.
India needs disruption in its road map for knowledge creation, with achievable targets, forecasting a visible path for becoming a knowledge economy. It must combine science and technology, social sciences, art, culture, languages, and design to build a unique, flexible, and nimble system.
As demonstrated during the pandemic, when enabling, facilitating, and trusting structures are implemented, India can easily be a global competitor in R&D and innovation. Research and innovation competitiveness should be a norm, not just an emergency response.
With the restructuring of science governance, Indian science can emerge as a world leader. To expect that existing or similar structures will give different results is foolhardy; therefore, a different structure is required. The National Research Foundation (NRF) proposes to do things differently (refer paragraph 17.10 of the National Education Policy 2020). NRF will be within the government but with minimum government control and headed by an independent board. The board comprising independent representatives, with no ministerial or governmental representation, chaired by the Prime Minister of India, will be one of its kind.
With independent financial and administrative rules, NRF will move toward creating robust and rigorous structures and systems that will function independently of individuals. The effective creation of rigour in its structures will be a measure of the success of NRF. Ease of governance and ease of doing science are essential to match rapid scientific evolution. NRF is envisaged to bridge the gap between education and research in India, bringing research organisations and universities together to nurture research culture in state and central universities and colleges so that local brains are not lost for the lack of knowledge of English.
In the 75th year of Independence, it is almost critical that the government agrees to establish NRF without compromising on the basic edicts that have been proposed to the government. India aspires to become a knowledge economy leader in the next 25 years. The proposed NRF will be an appropriate vehicle to help the country meet its ambition.