National Focus: Dr. Jitendra Singh informed initiatives about transformational changes in the processing of research proposals using digital Technologies

The government today denied the presence of any undue beauracratic control over India’s R&D ecosystem.In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Science and Technology (Independent Body); Minister of State (Independent Representative) for Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh said that all scientific departments are working with an integrated approach in sync with each other and with other departments of the Government of India.
Jitendra Singh informed that the government has taken some major initiatives to bring about transformational changes in the processing of research proposals using digital technologies which include online receipt and online processing of proposals for review and approval and digital transmission of research grants which have improved the transparency of implementation and also reduced the average time processing from the earlier nine months to approximately four and a half months. The government has also put in place an effective grievance redressal mechanism to address the concerns of citizens including the scientific community. Furthermore, as part of the formulation of the new science, technology and innovation policy, several recommendations towards the “ease of doing research” in the country were included in the proposal.
The minister also said that the government has studied scientific administration and management structure in leading countries of the world with the support of innovation. Most of the world’s economies led by S&T innovation are making efforts to improve their “ease of doing research” in line with the concept of “ease of doing business”. There are several global rankings, such as the Global Innovation Index, Global Competitiveness Index, etc., that inform about this aspect. These benchmarks reveal key attributes associated with S&T governance. India has made considerable progress in recent years in terms of ranking in most global indices.

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