By Dinesh C Sharma, DailyO, May 15, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be grabbing headlines for his foreign policy initiatives, but respected scientific journal Nature has slammed his government for poor performance in science and technology. In a special issue on India, the magazine has highlighted various problems plaguing Indian science - inadequate funding, leadership vacancies in research laboratories and curbs on dissenting voices. Though Modi, like his predecessor, has promised to cut the red tape in scientific bodies, the journal says not much has changed on the ground.
"India must tackle the bureaucratic morass that is impeding research and innovation. Scientists complain that funds for grants routinely arrive months late and that it can take years to fill positions. As a measure of the problem, one-third of the national laboratories, which are overseen by the prestigious Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), lack permanent leaders," the journal has observed in its editorial.
"The current situation is indeed challenging. The CSIR is the backbone of scientific and technological research in the country. In case the prevailing scenario continues, it will affect the national innovation system as a whole," the CSIR director-general, Madhukar Garg, is quoted as saying in the journal.
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