BHUBANESWAR: Expressing concern over the decline of India’s position in the world of science during which it has been overtaken by countries like China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called for major increase in investment in R&D including by industries and strategic sectors.The country must aim to increase the total R&D spending to 2 percent of the GDP by the end of the 12th Plan period from the current level of around 0.9 pc, Singh said inaugurating the five-day 99th Indian Science Congress (ISC) on the KIIT University campus here.The Prime Minister said this can be changed if industry, which contributes about one-third of the total R&D expenditure today, increases its contribution. “I believe public sector undertakings especially in the energy sector should play a major role in this expansion,” he said.Stating that publicly funded R&D is skewed in favour of fundamental rather than applied research, Singh said it is easier to attract funds into applied research areas and a set of principles should be formulated to push such funding and to drive PPPs in R&D.Outlining an ambitious plan to “change the face” of Indian science, the Prime Minister said that increasing food production and nutritional security is important and agricultural scientists should work towards breakthroughs to enable a second green revolution.Besides, a proposal to build national capacity and capability in supercomputing to be implemented by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore at a cost of Rs 5000 cr is being examined, he said and added that the Government is also considering a proposal to establish Neutrino Observatory in Theni district Tamil Nadu with investment of Rs 1350 cr.Congratulating ISC for highlighting the role of women in science, Singh at the same time took note of the results of a study published last year that showed 60 per cent of nearly 2,000 Indian women Ph.Ds in science surveyed were unemployed.“The main reason cited was lack of job opportunities. Only a very small number cited family reasons. This underlines the need for transparency in selection procedures at institutions and also the importance of gender audits,” he said. He also stressed on the need to expand the basic science infrastructure and to achieve greater alignment of the S&T sector with the inclusive development needs of the nation. Union Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh announced that the Centre will soon formulate a well balanced policy on science and technology for sustainable development. The last policy was announced in 2003. Stating that the future focus of science will be on bio-technology, Deshmukh called for a paradigm change in the R&D sector which is now treated in a segregated manner.Governor MC Bhandare and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology were also present.
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