Science and Technology In India: Policy Planning

Science and Technology Policy, 2003

Policy Objectives

Recognising the changing context of the scientific enterprise, and to meet present national needs in the new era of globalisation, the Government has enunciated the following as objectives of the Science and Technology Policy:

• To ensure that the message of science reaches every citizen of the country, so that scientific temper is advanced and we emerge as a progressive and enlightened society. • To ensure food, agricultural, nutritional, environmental, water, health and energy security of the people on a sustainable basis. • To mount a direct and sustained effort on alleviation of poverty, removal of hunger, malnutrition, reduction of regional imbalances, both rural and urban, and generation of employment, by using scientific and technological capabilities along with traditional knowledge pool. • To vigorously foster scientific research in universities and other academic, scientific and engineering institutions. • To promote the empowerment of women in all science and technology activities and ensure their full and equal participation. • To provide necessary autonomy and freedom of functioning for all academic and R&D institutions, • To accomplish national strategic and security related objectives, by using the latest advances in science and technology.

These objectives can be best realised only by a dynamic and flexible science and technology policy. This policy reiterates India's commitment to participate as an equal and vigorous global player in generating and harnessing advances in science and technology for the benefit of all humankind.

Strategy and Implementation Plan

The implementation, strategy identifies the specific plans, programmes and projects, with clearly defined tasks, estimates of necessary resources, and time targets. Some of key elements of implementation strategy are: 1. Science and Technology Governance and Investments (a) A suitable mechanism shall be evolved by which independent inputs on Science and Technology Policy and Planning are obtained on a continuous basis from a wide cross-section of scientists and technologists.(b) Efforts shall be directed towards a greater integration of programmes in socio-economic sectors with R&D activities. (c) A concerted strategy shall be evolved to infuse a new sense of dynamism in our S&T Institutions. (d) It shall be ensured that all highly science-based Ministries/Depart-ments of Government are run by scientists and technologists.(e) Government shall make necessary budgetary commitments for higher education and science and technology.

2. Optimal utilisation of existing Infrastructure and Competence Steps shall be taken to network the existing infrastructure, investments and intellectual strengths to achieve effective and optimal utilisation and constantly upgrade them to meet changing needs.

3. Strengthening of the Infrastructure for S&T in academic institutions Major initiatives shall be taken to modernise the infrastructure for science and engineering in academic institutions. It shall be ensured that all middle and high schools, vocational and other colleges have appropriately sized science laboratories, special support shall be provided to select academic institutions to raise standard of teaching and research. Flexible mechanisms for induction of new faculty in areas of science shall be developed, constancy of support and attention shall be ensured over at least a ten-year period.

4. New funding mechanisms for Basic Research Steps shall be taken for setting up more efficient funding mechanisms for the promotion of basic research on science, medical and engineering institutions. In particular administrative and financial procedure shall be simplified to pursuit efficient operation of research programmes.

5. Human Resource Development New and innovative schemes shall be introduced to attract and nurture young talent with an aptitude for research. Substantial funding shall be allocated for building up human resource base in relevant areas, continuing process of retraining and re-skilling to keep pace with rapid advances shall be emphasised.New mechanisms shall be instituted to facilitate return of scientists and technologists of Indian origin to India.

6. Technology Development, Transfer and Diffusion A strong base of science and engineering research provides a social foundation for a vibrant programme of technology development. Hence, priority shall be placed on the development of technologies which address the basic needs of the population; make Indian Industries globally competitive; make the country economically strong; and address the security concerns of the nation. Special emphasis shall be placed on equity on development, so that the benefits of technological growth reach the majority of the population. Special emphasis shall be given not only to R&D and the technological factors of innovation, but also to other equally important social, institutional and market factors needed for adoption, diffusion and transfer of innovation to the productive sectors.

7. Industry and Scientific R&D Efforts shall be made to achieve synergy between Industry and scientific research. Autonomous Technology Transfer Organisations shall be created as associate organisations of universities and national, laboratories to facilitate transfer of the know- how generated to industry. Flexible mechanisms shall be evolved to help scientists transfer the know-how generated by them to industry and be a partner in receiving the financial returns. Industry shall be encouraged to financially adopt or support educational and research institutions, fund courses of interest to them etc. to help direct science and technology endeavours towards tangible industrial goals.

8. Indigenous Resources and Traditional Knowledge Indigenous knowledge shall be further developed for purpose of wealth and employment generation innovative systems to document, protect evaluate and to learn from India's rich heritage of traditional knowledge shall be strengthened and enlarged. Technologies shall be developed that add value to India's indigenous resources A concerted plan to intensify research on traditional systems of medicine so as to contribute to fundamental advances in health case, and leading to commercialisation of effective products shall be undertaken.

9. Technologies for Mitigation and Management of Natural Hazards A concerted action plan to enhance predictive capabilities and preparedness for meeting emergencies arising from floods, cyclones, earthquakes, drought, land slides and

avalanches shall be drawn up. Measures shall be taken to promote research on natural phenomena that lead to disasters and human activities that aggravate them.

10. Generation and Management of Intellectual Property IPR systems that specially protect scientific discoveries and technological innovations arising out of traditional knowledge shall be designed and effectively implemented. Legislations with regard to patents, copyrights and other forms of Intellectual Property shall ensure that maximum incentives are provided for individual inventors and to scientific and technological community to undertake large scale and rapid commerciali-sation. The development of skills and competence to manage IPR and leveraging its influence shall be given a major thrust.

11. Public awareness of Science and Technology Support shall be provided for wide dissemination of scientific knowledge. Efforts shall be made to convey to the young the excitement in scientific and technological advances and to instil scientific temper in the population at large. Special support shall be provided for programmes that seek to popularise and promote science and .technology in all parts of the country.

12. International Science-and Technology Cooperation Scientific research and technology development can benefit greatly by international co-operation and collaboration. International collaborative programmes, especially those contributing directly to our scientific development of .security objectives shall be encouraged, special emphasis shall be placed on collaborations with other developing countries and particularly neighbouring countries, with whom India shares many common problems. International collaboration in science and technology would be used to further national interests as an important component of foreign policy initiative.

13. Fiscal Measures Innovative fiscal measures are critical to ensure successful implementation of policy objectives. Newer strategies shall be formulated for attracting higher levels of public and private investments in science and technology development. An apex Science and Technology advisory body shall be constituted to suggest appropriate fiscal measures to sub-serve the policy objective.

14. Monitoring Effective, expeditious, transparent and science-based monitoring and reviewing mechanisms shall be significantly strengthened, and wherever not available will be put in place It shall be ensured that the scientific community is involved in, and responsible for smooth and speedy implementation.

15. The New Vision The Science and Technology Policy 2003 shall be implemented so as to be in harmony with our worldview of the larger human family all around. Further, it shall ensure that S&T truly uplifts the Indian people and all of humanity.

Major Achievements During 11th Plan Period

Nuclear Science

Major Achievements of DAE during the Eleventh Five Year Plan Period:

• There are six new nuclear reactors are under construction in the first stage. These include two 1000 MWe PHRs at KudalKulam, Tamil Nadu, nearing completion and four 700 MWe PHWRs (2 each at Kakrapar, Gujrat and Rawatbhata, Rajasthan). The design of a 500 MWe prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (currently under construction at Kalpakkam), BHAVINI of DAE is implementing this project which is expected to add 500 MWe to the Southern grid by

2012 end. The ongoing development of 300 MWe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AWHR) at BARC aims at developing expertise for thorium utilization and demonstrating advanced safety concept.• UCIL of DAE have been meeting the needs of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme, a new open cast mine was commissioned at Banduhurang in Singbhum (Jharkhand). UCIL has taken up the work to develop mines at Lambapur (Andhra Pradesh) and Domiasiat (Meghalaya) and Mohuldin Uranium Mining Proejct in Saraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand, Uranium Mining and Milling Project at Tumalpalle, Andhra Pradesh are nearing completion and another such project is underway at Gogi in Karnataka.• The Heavy Water Board (HWB) of DAE bagged the sixteenth export order of 11 MT of Heavy Watger to South Korea.• A significant milestone towards fuel processing was the commissioning of the Second Power Reactor Reprocessing Plant by BSRC at Tarapur in January 2011.• A facility for the immobilisation of nuclear waste in a cement matrix has been commissioned at Kalpakkam. BARC has constructed an Advanced Vitrification System at Tarapur for high level waste immobilisation on Joule Melter Technology.• During 2010-11, more than 53000 consignments of various Radioisotope-based products and radiation processing services were provided by BRIT.• The newly developed T3/T4 Magnetic paticle based Radioimmunoassay (RIA) kits have been introduced in the market for thyroid hormone investigations.• BARC has recently developed the Vapour Compression (VC) technology for sea water desalination and a 50,000 litres / day VC desalination plant has been installed and commissioned successfully.

Space

Major Achievements of DoS during the Eleventh Five Year Plan Period:

• The Eleventh period witnessed significant progress in Indian Space capabilites. The static test of S200 (solid booster) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota on January 24, 2010, the successful test of S200 makes it the third largest solid booster in the world. The second static testing of the liquid one stage (L110) of GSLV-MK-III was successfully conducted for 200 seconds at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri in 2010, L110 is one of the heaviest earth storable liquid stages ever developed by ISRO. The first experimental launch of GSLV MK-III is planned in 2012. Launch and operationalisation of GSAT-8, GSAT-12, INSAT-4E, and 52 satellites are some of the important achievements of the period. CARTOSAT-2B, IMS-1, RISAT-2, RESOURCE SAT-2 Indian Remote Sensing series of satellites were other important initiatives during the period Work on Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) has been initiated. The work on development of spacecraft and scientific instruments has been initiated. India’s first unmanned Moon Mission ‘Chandrayaan-1’ was successfully launched on 22 October 2008 onboard PSLV C-11. The scope of international cooperation has been become wider and diverse as ISRO has made tremendous progress in recent time. Format MoU or Agreements have been entered into with several countries towards harnessing the space technology for mutual benefit.

Earth Science

Major achievements of Minister of Earth Science during the Eleventh Plan Period.

• A new Global System (GFS) T382L64 with latest version of data assimilation Scheme (GSI) has been implemented for operational weather forcasts.• Cloud - Aerosol Interaction and percipitation Enhancement Experiement (CAIPEEX), Phase-II of the programme was successfully carried out in 2010.

• 34 Electronic Display Board (EDB) in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Maharashtra and Andaman were installed to enhance the reachability of PFZ and OSF advisories and Tsunami warning to a wider section of people along Indian Coasts.• Two Low Temperatrue Thermal Desalination (LTTD) plant in Islands of Agati and Minicoy has been set up recently, the work to establish LTTD plant at Tuticorin thermal plant station is being undertaken.• India made its first partial submission for an extended continental self to commission on the Limits of the continental Self (CLCS) on 16 August 2010.• The Phase-I construction activities of the Indian Reseach Base at the Larsemann Hills commenced during 2010.Forecasting services for monsoons and other weather / climate parameters, ocean state, earthquakes, tsunamis and other phenomena related to earth systems were provided through well-integrated pogramme.

Biotechnology

Major Achievements of DBT during the Eleventh Five Year Plan Period:

• Presently 63 Post graduate teaching programmes in various areas of biotechnology namely General Biotechnology, Agriculture Biotechnology etc. are being supported all over the country. In the project on development of Transgenic cotton for resistence lines of cotton (coker 310-FR) carrying the cry 1 AC gene for attaining resistence to Helicoverpa amigera developed. Conservation and augmentation of two predotors, viz. Dipha aphidivora and Micronus igorotus was achieved, which supressed sugarcane aphid populations. Under the Bamboo Demonstration Programme nearly 380-ha has been planted with tissue culture material. A novel and potent anthrax vaccine which includes mutants of legal factor and edema factor was developed which provides better efficacy in vivo. Oligonucleotide probe for monitoring vibro counts in hatcheries were designed. Neuro Peptides synthesis was explored from Indian cone snails and conus peptide sequence was worked out.• A rapid diagnostics test system for filariasis (signal MF) has been commercially launched.• A joint programme with NTPC has been planned to formulate programme on carbon sequestration using biotechno-logical tools. The Biotech Park initiative at Bengaluru, Karnataka is being pursued for the promotion of PPP. Several bioactive nematophila have been identified. A HCV test based on designer diagnostic HCV multi-epitope protein developed by the centre has been marketed in India.

Some of the important achievements in the field of crop biotechnology include: transformation technologies for rice for salinity and drought tolerance; molecular marker for wheat quality traits. Two candidate vaccines on rotavirus developed under INDO-US Vaccine Action Programme, have been found to be safe in clinical settings. Limbal stem cells have been successfully used to repair cornea surface disorders. Technologies have also been developed for the manufacture of nutrient supplements, health foods, fruit juice processing, production of natural food additives, oil and fat modification, ensuring food quality/safety, biodegradable food packaging and production of chitosan based packaging films. A technology developed for the high density culture of Vero cells of an Indian strain of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) has been transferred under a memorandum of agreement to International Panacea, New Delhi.

Space and Technology

Major Achievements of DST during the Eleventh Five Year Plan Period:

R&D efforts have led to six product patents filed both in India and abroad, 29 process patents, and synthesis of over 280 New Chemical Entities (NCEs) resulting in around 25

lead molecules. Inter- governmental agreements for cooperation in S& T were signed with 16 countries, which include Canada, China, Colombia, the EU, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Mozambique, South Korea, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and USA. Detailed protocols on IPR were also signed with Canada, Israel, USA and Switzerland. Eight joint centres were also set up with active cooperation of some of the bilateral partner countries, namely, Indo-French Centre on Organic Synthesis, IISc., Bangalore; Indo-French Laboratory for Solid State chemistry, IISc, Bangalore; Indo- Russian Centre for Ayurvedic Research, Moscow; Indo-Russian Centre for Gas Hydrate Studies, NIOT, Chennai; Indo-Russian Centre for Earthquake Research, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi; Indo-French Institute of Mathematics, Mumbai, and Indo-Russian Centre for Biotechnology, Allahabad. Several new programmes have also been launched during the Eleventh Plan period, which include: Indo-Israel Industrial R&D Cooperation, Indo-Russian Technology Centre, Indo-UK Science and Innovation Council, Indo-Russian S& T Cooperation in cutting-edge areas, Indo-Canadian S& T Cooperation in cutting-edge areas, and establishment of Joint Bilateral Centres of Excellence in the areas of Non-ferrous Metallurgy, Biomedical Technology and Lasers and Accelerators.

Scientific and Industrial Research

Major Achievements of DSIR/CSIR during the Eleventh Five Year Plan Period:

Isolation of a compound from the leafs of the betel plant (piper betel) that is able to induce death of cancer cells in chronic myeloid leukemia; crude extract prepared from a marine organism (mussel) by the enzyme-acid hydrolyzing process shows a potent anti- malarial activity when examined for in-vitro cultures of Plasmodium falciparum in human erythrocytes; isolation of a natural compound from Boswellia species, and alternatively prepared its semi-synthetic compounds for cancer of colon, prostrate, liver, breast, central nervous system, leukaemia and malignancy of other tissues, including as cites and solid tumours; herbal formulation from the plant extract of Cedrus deodar for the treatment of cancer, developed a herbal medicament which has shown promising anti- stroke activity along with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties on pre-treatment in rats; developed a process for the oral delivery of insulin and also of hepatitis B vaccine, this new invention is a boon to the diabetic population showing the reduction of blood glucose levels comparable to that of the injectable insulin; isolated the first biologically derived molecule ATB 1 that inhibits HJV-1 protease.

Twelfth Plan Policy and Approach

As the Indian economy and society grow and modernize, the Indian Science and Technology landscape also has to change to meet the magnitude of demands being made. The change should take care of the new responses needed including delivery models for innovative deployment of technologies and business models for financing deployment of innovations. This would require adjustment in the existing governance and management models in our universities, research institutions and laboratories for supporting strategic goals in this area. Current practices and policies do not promote this objective sufficiently. This calls for a well enunciated Science, Technology and Innovation policy, which is supported by an ecosystem that addresses the national priority for inclusive and accelerated growth. It is with this conviction that twelfth Five Year Plan approach to S&T has emphasized the following:—

• There is a wide range of areas that would require breakthrough innovations and significance S&T inputs. These include energy, water management, farm production, medical research, waste disposal, health care, communications, and so on. In order to play a productive and appropriate role to service these national needs, several critical decisions which effect the S&T system are needed.

• We must take steps to ensure that total expenditure in R&D increases to 2.0 per cent of GDP by the end of the Twelfth Plan. This could consist of about 1.0 per cent in the public sector organisations are far too small. They should be incentivised to make larger provisions. this should not just be for in-house R&D, but also they should R&D in research institutions and universities.• It is necessary to create a framework that takes into account the entire life cycle of ideas beginning with discovery/creation to commercialization, extension and value addition. It is sucess in this area alone that can stimulate appropriate innovation across the wider system. To achieve this, current institutional structures and mechanism would require:

A holistic approach to public funding of Research and Development (R&D) for socially relevant projects and treat the entire knowledge domain of R&D as connected.

Much larger base of full time researchers and flexibility in hiring them;

Greater autonomy to work in a clearly defined charter;

More flexibility to the younger generation of scientists to pursue their ideas and greater mobility between industry, academia and R&d institutions;

Strengthen gender parity initiatives in R&D sector by way of mobility and suitable parameters for women re-entry programmes in R&D.

Enhanced scope and process of inter-institutional and International collaborative research;

Significant participation of soio-economic Ministries and States in technology deployment process;

A culture of world class publicly owned and privately/autonomous managed S&T institutions;

A well-crafted strategy for technology acquisition in high-tech areas;

Significant changes in HR, financing, procurement policies and importantly a transparent perfor-mance appraisal system.

• Significant changes will have to be brought in current interaction of publicly-owned S&T establishment with industry, both in public and private sector. This should result in a significant enhance-ment of the private sector R&D expenditure, which is presently estimated at around 25.0 per cent of national R&D expenditure to at least 50.0 per cent in the Twelfty Plan.• The innovative component of several technologies that have been developed by the three strategic Departments of Atomic Energy, Space and Defence Research and Development, for their own respective needs, could trigger unique mechanisms for encouraging innovation and ensuring the right impact on social, industrial and strategic sectors in the Twelfth Plan. Linkage with the industry associations in another dimension which would need additional thrust in the Twelfth Plan.

National Missions• PAN India mission mode projects addressing National needs and priorities should be launched, through extensive participation of stakeholders, in the areas of health, water, energy, food and environment security with the objective to achieve the goals and targets in a defined time frame.• Major research concerns for Agriculture sector relate to water management, soil degradation and fatigue; genetic erosion, increasing biotic and abiotic pressures; inefficient energy management; inadequate markets and unfavourable trade, increasing knowledge

lag; management and protection of farm produce and harvest and post-harvest losses. Furthering R&D efforts in precision agriculture using space technology inputs for detailed assessment of biotic and abiotic and abiotic stresses, creation of spectral library for various crops and aoils and application of microwave remote sensing and polarimetry for soil moisture, crop identification etc., is essential. Resource Conservation Technologies for improving input use efficiency and choice and responsible use of biotechnology tools and realistic assessment of their potential in crop and livestock improvement are essentially needed for new generation designer crop plants; bio-fortification of staple food crops, pre-breeding for resistance/tolerance to various stresses; microbial genomics in search of new genes; and research solutions for secondary agriculture. There is also a need to review the present state of agriculture education with the aim at improving and sustaining quality of higher agriculture education for addressing emerging challenges for livelihood security and sustainable develop-ment. It is also necessary to re-examine the architecture of agricultural extension services in the country.

Dialogue with Other Countries

• We must expand the scope of our dialogue with both and advanced and emerging economics in the sphere of defining S&T focus areas and avenues for exchange of information and purposeful collaboration.• The Twelfth Plan must identify half-a-dozen areas where our key technological competency can allow us to conduct this dialogue at the level of peers and permit participation in international projects. This will also place us in a better position to carry forward S&T dialogue with other developing nations.

Expansion of Basic Science

• The energization of S&T activities cannot be de-linked from expansion and depending of basic science teaching and research in our centres of scientific learning (universities and teaching institutes). The creation of greater infrastructure and more project-related funding for expanding the quality of basic science teaching and basic science research is, in the ultimate analysis, a prior condition for the expansion of the scope of S&T intervention in the development of the wider economy and society.• The institutional concepts which were initiated in earlier Five Year Plans, like the Inter University Centres and Inter-Institutional for enhancing research and educational linkages for Universities, are to be expanded further to cover many other inter-disciplinary research areas such as Earth System Science, Life Sciences, Computational Science, Cognitive Science, GIS etc., during the Twelfth Plan to bring about functional connectivity across universities and domain institutions. This would also help overcome regional disparities in the quality of education / research.

Innovation

• The role of innovation in spurring growth, overcoming natural resource constraints and unleashing Indian energies and synergies is widely recognised all over the world. Recognising the importance of innovation, the President of India has declared this decade as the ‘decade of innovation’, with a focus on inclusive growth.• Government has a critical role to play in strengthening the innovation ecosystem. It must provide the enabling policy interventions, strengenthen knowledge infra-structure, create markets for innovations through the stimulus of Government procurement, improve inter-institutional collaborations, provide a mechanism for funding business innovations at all levels especially SMEs, and provide vision through a national level roadmap for innovations. To spur the Indian innovation ecosystem, the Prime Minister has set up a National Innovation Council (NInC) with the mandate to formulate a Roadmap for Innovations for

2010-20 with a focus on inclusive growth. Principal initiatives already undertaken by the Council and some other innovative programs of the Government are mentioned here.• To plug this vital gap in the innovation ecosystem, the National Innovation Council is considering the need for a professionally manged India Inclusvie Innovation Fund which will invest in innovative enterprises engaged in providing solutions for the ‘botoom of the pyramid’. It will focus on innovations that will produce socially useful outcomes for poorer people and enterprises which are focussed on delivering these. The Fund will also provide support for mentoring entrepreneurs to build their enterprises and achieve desired outcomes. The Fund will be built upon seed capital from the Government multiplied by contributions from various Indian public sector enterprises, banks, private investors, corporates and investment firms. Several international funds whose mission is to support social entrepreneurship have expressed interest in participating in such a Fund if it were sponsored by the Indian Government. The structure of the Fund and its governance is now being designed.• Affordable and accessible products and services of good quality must be the primary outcome of the country’s ‘frugal innovation’ thrust. Experience of sucessful innovations, such as the low cost eye and heart surgery models, as well in the micro-finance industry, shows that the employment of the country’s low cost pool of skill-able people in the production and distribution of the products and services is a key to enabling their affordability and accessibility. Such innovative models also increase oppotunities for increasing employment and improving the lives of the people who are part of the production and distribution process.

Innovations in Government

• Innovations should also be encouraged within Government structures and process to enable improved service delivery and create more transparency and account-ability in the system.• Government is also leveraging ICT to reduce pendency in the legal system, encourage a move towards e-governance, e-procurement and e-tendering. It is also undertaking an ambitious initiative to connect 250,000 Panchayats with fiber-based broadband to improve governance and service delivery at the last mile. GIS mapping will also be applied more extensively to improve land record management and delivery of services in urban and rural areas.• NInC is encouraging the States to set up State Innovation Councils to stimulate the ecosystems for innovation in their states. Currently, 13 State Government have constituted State Innovation Councils. Using the broad templates suggested by NIC they will develop interventions to suit their state’s specific needs. In this way the national Innovation agenda will combine with other thrusts for improvement of governance and service delivery described elsewhere in the Approach to introduce more flexibility and innovation in centrally schemes and thus improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the growth process.• Innovative programmes and policies are required at the Centre as well as in the States of ICT to permeate rapidly in the country and enable India to achieve its goal of more inclusive and faster growth. The country must provide affordable and accessible education, skill development, healthcare, and financial services, very rapidly and on a very large scale. The large opportunity for expansion of ICT services in India should attract foreign technological capabilites. The Twelfth Plan must stimulate widerspread deployment of ICT in the country to accelerate inclusive growth.

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