Old wine in a new bottle?

For the National Research Foundation to be the radical game-changer it is proposed to become, it must bring change at the level of the universities

The Indian research community is looking to the formation of the National Research Foundation (NRF) to herald a new era — where research is one of the government’s priorities resulting in access to a reasonable quantum of funding disbursed in a timely manner.

However, short of these two dramatic changes, the NRF would be reduced to just another funding avenue, riddled with the issues of the past. But even with the passing of the NRF Bill there is little clarity on whether either of these two issues will be resolved.

Instead, the NRF continues its hopscotch game of attempting to fund all aspects of research governed by a science-heavy council. It leaves the operational details to the proposed governing council, which is a fair move considering the law is not amenable to quick tweaking to keep pace with evolving research. However, the Bill leaves much to be determined, bringing to the fore the question — Will anything change?

Unclear funding

If the proposed quantum of Rs 50,000 crore over five years as additional research funding is achieved, that by itself may have an impact. However, it is important that this funding is raised from new sources, and is not a simple re-labeling of existing financial flows. For example, the NRF already subsumes the SERB Act, 2008, and its associated funding, currently valued at Rs 800 crore per year. Government sources have stated that there will be no further consolidation of existing government funding for research, but the pathways for raising private or philanthropic money are unclear.

The governing council will have to design necessary incentives to quickly attract non-government funding from new sources. Reports suggest that the government expects to raise Rs 36,000 crore through external funding, but the key to promoting research would be to develop sustainable and consistent funding sources.

Too small an amount

A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that if the government raises only Rs 14,000 crore, this amounts to Rs 2,800 crore per year. Rs 800 crore would come from the allocated SERB funding. The government would then have to put in an additional Rs 2,000 crore for the NRF, which is the quantum of funding announced in this year’s budget. This would account for administrative costs and research, but the extent of the administrative capacity building required, and its costs, are not known. Thus, the actual pot of money that will be available for funding research, in the absence of significant fundraising, would be much smaller than the anticipated annual Rs 10,000 crore outlay, and might not be effective in bringing any change.

New financial sandbox

The current funding system is riddled with implementation inefficiencies. Delays in funding releases are common, and have been reported as an impediment to the progress of research. The Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology has also noted the delays in the release of funding and salaries to scientists and students in their report on ‘Demand for Grants’ by various science departments. The NRF cannot be operationalised with these legacy issues, and needs a new financial sandbox to ensure the timely release of funds.

Additionally, the mechanisms by which funding will be disbursed and tracked must be consistent. For example, in 2022, the Union government changed financial rules, demanding separate zero-balance accounts to be maintained for each research project. This caused concern as the new rules would lead to administrative burden, without increasing funding to manage additional costs. The government eventually reversed the decision in face of resistance. The NRF must enable easy flow of funds, without encumbering the researchers or institutions with additional administrative burden.

A glorified substitute?

Finally, the question remains on how this funding will be used. To promote science in research institutions, or build new research capacity in universities. Fundamentally these are two different tasks. Premier research institutions have developed infrastructure that allows research to be carried out with ease. However, only a few of these train undergraduate students, leaving potential researchers unexposed to cutting-edge scientific thinking and approaches.

Universities on the other hand train students but do not have the necessary infrastructure that enables ease of research. As outlined in the NRF, if the plan is to equip universities to facilitate research at even the undergraduate level, heavy capital investments will be required. However, if the NRF only allocates small amounts of project money to well-endowed laboratories, it will end up becoming a glorified substitute for the SERB.

Radical changes

For it to be the radical game-changer it is proposed to become, it must bring change at the level of the universities. But a quick look at the governing and executive council shows a preference to existing research institutions, represented by secretaries of various science departments, whereas universities and states get negligible seats at the table. In fact, the administrative responsibility of the NRF is housed within the Department of Science and Technology, which could influence decision-making.

By government estimates, India currently spends Rs 2 lakh-crore per year on research and development. For this new Rs 10,000 crore per year allocation to be a game changer, the NRF must bring radical changes. Otherwise, it will fall short of being the agent of change that the research ecosystem in India expects.

(Shambhavi Naik is Head of Research, Takshashila Institution.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.