A decentralisation of the agenda of science and access to science and its methods will bring real science closer to schools and colleges and allow the community to participate in its own development. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India has engaged in a review of its State Science and Technology Councils (SSTC) Programme.
· The SSTCs were formed to spearhead the use of science and technology (S&T) for regional problems and to foster “scientific temper” within states, and the DST programme was mandated “to provide core support”.
· Many of the development problems, for instance, water or public health, are on the State List. Most state departments do not make any provision for research in their budget simply because it may be too disruptive, or that they do not find viable partner institutions.
· The SSTCs are well-placed to enable problem discovery, identify higher education institutions to work on these problems and engage with state agencies.
Hurdles in working of SSTC
· From the DST ,out of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, barely Rs 100 crore makes it to the SSTCs put together. State funding is scarce. For example, the Maharastra SSTC has an annual budget of about Rs 60 crore.
· Much of the SSTC budget is disbursed in the same patronising “project proposal and approval” method of the DST, rather than in sectoral engagement and people-driven problem identification.
For effective decentralisation
· The DST should disburse about Rs 2,000-2,500 crore directly to SSTCs with precise guidelines on problem area selection, publicly available reports as research outcomes, identification of regional institutions, strengthening of universities, and working with regional agencies.
· The DST should be a clearing house for data from central agencies such as the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA).
· The SSTC should become the nodal center for research in and for state agencies and administrative units such as forests lands, watersheds, districts or cities.
· This will enable sectoral research, funds, logistical support and access to state-level data.
· The SSTC should work with the state higher education department to evolve curricula and research frameworks for the state’s development requirements and provide academic space for SSTC projects, and evolve a network of regional institutions to work with district-level agencies.
· There should be better alignment of research and development with existing programmes at the national and state level.
Vendhan 5 years
Tn ku
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
MURALIDHARAN 5 years
Kindly review!!
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
Pocomaster 5 years
Review Asap!! Thank you!
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
Madeshwaran 5 years
Kindly review
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Try to include about the hurdles faced by SSTC. Keep Writing.
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