Context

• The Union Cabinet has approved the introduction of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill in Parliament, placing once again the debate on science and technology funding in the spotlight.

What is the NRF?

• Setting up the NRF was one of the key recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020.
• The NRF intends to act as a coordinating agency between researchers, various government bodies and industry, thus bringing industry into the mainstream of research.

  

• In addition to providing research grants to individuals, the NRF plans to seed, grow and facilitate research in India’s universities, especially State universities, by funding research infrastructure and researchers.
• The proposed NRF is largely modelled after the National Science Foundation of the U.S.
• It borrows some of the best practices from the German, U.K., Swiss, Norwegian, South Korean, and Singapore science agencies. 

How will it be funded?

• The NRF will operate with a budget of ₹50,000 crore for five years, of which 28% (₹14,000 crore) will be the government’s share, and the remaining 72% (₹36,000 crore) will come from the private sector.
• As per the last available statistics (2017-18), India’s GERD was ₹1,13,825 crore.
  • While India’s GDP was 7.6 and 5.1 times smaller than that of the U.S. and China respectively, India’s GERD was nearly 24 times less than both these countries during the same period.
  • And in the last five years, that gap has further widened.

How can the NRF facilitate the “ease of doing science”?

• First, the time between applying for a research grant and receiving the money must be minimal, preferably within six months. Although the NRF draft mentions that the peer-review process will be completed within six months, releasing funds may take time, pending financial clearance.
• Second, all the paperwork must be digitally processed without sending stacks of papers in hard copies to the NRF.
• Third, all finance-related queries, paperwork, approval, and acceptance need to be between the NRF and the finance department of the university/research institution keeping the scientist free to focus on research.
• Fourth, the NRF needs explicit spending guidelines away from the General Financial Rules (GFR) and the government’s e-Marketplace (GeM) usage. Scientific research needs independent guidelines for spending money, which provides flexibility while making scientists accountable.
• Finally, the release of money needs to be timely. Although the NRF draft mentions timely disbursal of funds, a mechanism needs to be in place to facilitate and implement this.

Conclusion

• The success of NRF will lie in how the government sets rules and implements the same, different from what already exists.

Source: TH

Visit Abhiyan PEDIA (One of the Most Followed / Recommended) for UPSC Revisions: Click Here

IAS Abhiyan is now on Telegram: Click on the Below link to Join our Channels to stay Updated 

IAS Abhiyan Official: Click Here to Join

For UPSC Mains Value Edition (Facts, Quotes, Best Practices, Case Studies): Click Here to Join