S & T Scenario
Scientific Policy Resolution
Post - Independence, conscious efforts were made to enhance and modernise the scientific infrastructure in the country by establishing a series of national laboratories, institutes of advanced technical education, universities etc. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the country, was devoted to building these " modern temples " for national development. On March 4, 1958 the Parliament passed the Scientific Policy Resolution ( SPR ) which emphasizes the Government's responsibility " to foster, promote and sustain, by all appropriate means, the cultivation of science and scientific research in all its aspects - pure, applied and educational ". The policy envisages the well - planned effort for promoting the growth of science and technology personnel on a scale adequate to satisfy the nation's needs in areas of agriculture, education, industry and defence.

The SPR also intends " to secure for the people of the country all the benefits that can accrue from the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge ". The Government has been following this resolution through its ministries and departments.

Technology Policy Statement
Acknowledging the vital role technology plays in the development of society, a Technology Policy Statement ( TPS ) was formulated in 1983, with the principal aim of developing indigenous technology and ensuring efficient absorption and adaptation of imported technology appropriate to national priorities and availability of resources. It is aimed at attaining technical competence and self - reliance, reducing vulnerability especially in strategic areas and fully utilising indigenous resources. The TPS also aims at employing traditional skills and capabilities making them commercially competitive.

Planning and Expenditure
The Government has made great efforts at planning and allocating appropriate resources as part of the development process. From the beginning of the First Five Year Plan, the programmes of various national laboratories and scientific departments have been propped up by allocating resources. Planning for the fields of science and technology is mainly achieved by preparing plans for the following three sectors in an independent manner : a) plans for the scientific departments, namely, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Ocean Development, Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Electronics, Ministry of Environment and Forests; b) planning for science and technology component of over 30 socio - economic ministries / departments including organisations like Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Central Board for Irrigation and Power, etc., and c) a separate Science and Technology sector in the plans of states and union territories.

Science and Technology Infrastructure
Scientific and technological activities in India can be divided into the following categories :

  • Central Government
  • state governments
  • higher educational sector
  • public and private sector industry and
  • non - profit institutions / associations.


    • These institutional structures, equipped with research laboratories, are the principal contributors to the country's research and development work.     

    Programmes of the Scientific Department
    The Department of Science and Technology, established in 1971, has formulated policy statements and guidelines, provided mechanisms of coordination in areas of science and technology in which a number of institutions and departments have interests, supported grants - in - aid to scientific research, institutions and professional bodies. The main functions of the Department are given below.

    Research and Development Programme
    One of the vital activities of the Department of Science and Technology has been to identify and promote frontline and priority areas of Research and Development ( R & D ) in various disciplines of science and technology. This is carried out through the carefully evolved mechanism of Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC), an advisory body comprising prominent scientists and technologists from various national laboratories, universities and industry. The Council helps the Department not only in identification of new and inter - disciplinary areas of R&D but also promotes and supervises the progress of these fields by providing financial assistance in the form of research projects, establishing national facilities specially required for promoting a given discipline and area of science and technology. Every year, around 1000 projects, most of them under the category of basic sciences and engineering research, are received for consideration by the Department. The programmes related to units / core groups or setting up of national facilities, coordinated programmes are supported under the programme-Intensification of Research in High Priority Areas (RHPA). Some of the vital areas under this scheme are Nano materials and Carbon Chemistry, Photo Chemistry, Neuro Science, Satellite Plasma Research Programme, Climate Research, Non- Linear Dynamics Liquid Crystals etc.

    Several national facilities have been established to cater to the requirements of the scientific community to take up challenging research programmes, i.e single crystal x-ray diffractometer, peptide sequencer, upgradation of x-ray diffraction facility for macro modules, testing facilities for building materials etc.

    In order to promote R & D activities in the country, the Department also has a responsibility to strengthen basic infrastructure for research by providing instruments to the scientific community. Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centres ( RSICs ) have been set up cater to the need of the scientists in that particular region. Besides, special opportunities are given to scientists, such as national and international fellowships, summer and winter schools for training particularly to encourage young and budding scientists for pursuing research career. Around 100 scientists are supported every year.

    Technology Development
    The Department, as part of its technology promotion programmes, has assisted in the initiation of specific technology missions which involve the development of product sub - systems such as biological pest control, bio - fertilizer and aquaculture in the Department of Biotechnology; parallel computing, new materials, selected retrofit automation, air navigation system, micro - electronics and photonics in the Department of Electronics; leather and clean coal technologies in the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Four initiatives launched by the Department of Science and Technology are : advanced composites, fly ash disposal and utilization, seismicity and sugar production technologies.

    As envisaged in the Technology Policy Statement of 1983 and following the recommendations of the Technology Policy Implementation Committee, the Department has established an autonomous body - Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). The main objectives of TIFAC include generation of Technology Forecasting (TF) and Technology Assessment (TA) documents and enabling a Technology Information System which is interactive and nationally accessible. Technology Forecasting / Technology Assessment ( TF/TA ) studies have so far been carried out in areas of human settlement planning/building technology and skills; sugar industry, steel, materials technology, automated machinery and production systems, foundry modernization, energy, high volume industrial gases and prospects for biotechnology products in India by 2000 AD in health and agricultural sectors. 

    TIFAC has also taken new initiatives in surface engineering, high performance computational facilities etc. A society for biomedical technology has been established at Bangalore with participation from DST, TIFAC, DRDO, Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Ministries of Welfare and Rural Development for development of devices such as pacemakers, heart valves etc. 

    The major milestones of TIFAC's implementation efforts are the technology projects on a Mission Mode approved by the Government of India for Sugar Production Technologies, Advanced Composites and Fly Ash Disposal and Utilisation.

    Home - Grown Technologies
    A significant activity being pursued by TIFAC is promotion of specific Home Grown Technologies which is expected to strengthen the linkages between research institutions and industry by commercialisation of indigenously developed technologies. 12 projects are already under implementation. These are in the areas of CFC substitutes, co - based chemicals, vitamin A, 64-bit parallel computer flosolver, high energy rare earth magnets, cobalt recovery etc. 

    The on-line technology information system, TIFACLINE has made steady progress with concerted efforts being made towards proliferation of TIFACLINE services in various parts of the country. As per the TIFAC-CMC MoU, host hub functions have been made operational at Delhi and Bangalore.TIFACLINE services are also to be extended to Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram. International linkages have been established by TIFAC with ASEAN, WAITRO and IATAFI. TIFAC regularly interacts with industry associations such as CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI on several issues.

    S & T Programmes for Socio - Economic Development
    The Department of Science and Technology has specific programmes to support application of science and technology to directly benefit the economically weaker sections of society. Special schemes have also been launched for problems affecting the poor amongst scheduled castes and remote and primitive tribal groups as part of the special component plan and tribal sub-plan of the Department. Expertise of retired scientists and the zest of young scientists in such activities is adequately encouraged through appropriate support. Through a unique programme devoted to encouraging graduates in various branches of S&T to take up entrepeneurship as a possible vocation, the Department, through its National Science and Technology Entrepeneurship Development Board ( NSTEDB ), established in 1982, has imparted training in entrepeneurship to approximately 12,000 persons so far.

    The uniqueness of these activities is the involvement of academics, scientists and technologists in socially relevant schemes such as employment generation. Further, voluntary agencies and a few government agencies have also been inducted in this scheme. In this process of encouraging innovation and entrepeneurship, Science and Technology Entrepeneurs Parks (STEPs) have been created in 12 locations in and around engineering institutions and other academic and R&D institutions of excellence spread all over the country.

    Natural Resources Data Management Systems
    Under the Programme Natural Resources Data Management Systems (NRDMS), launched by the Department, database centres have been established in selected districts of the country for the development of databases and preparation of computer based spatial resource profiles essential in formulation of district level developmental programmes and schemes. Using the concept of Geographical Information System (GIS), the district profiles are to contain resource maps and information relating to natural resources, demography, agro-economic, socio-economy, infrastructure and administrative boundaries. Development of a GIS Software-Geo Referenced Area Management (GRAM) package - capable of handling the above maps and data on a low cost hardware platform at the district database centres is one of the notable outcomes of the programme. State Governments like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been actively involved in setting up databases centres in their respective states. Several R&D projects have also been carried out in fields like watershed management, ground water budgeting, biomass utilisation, drought assessment and landslide control to demonstrate the utility of NRDMS approach in micro level planning.

    International Cooperation
    India has signed bilateral pacts on cooperation in the spheres of S&T with 55 nations which include France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia, UK, USA, China, Mauritius, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam among others.

    S&T institutions in association with Indian and German industries are studying rough diamond coatings and plasma immersion ion implantation. Bilateral dealings with Japan got a much needed fillip under the aegis of the India-Japan Science Council. The Indo-Mauritius Radio Telescope Project for astronomical observations is one of its kind in the southern hemisphere. The Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR) and the Integrated Long-term Programme of Cooperation with Russia are some of the agreements signed by India. The International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and new materials (ARC-I) established at Hyderabad with the involvement of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Uzbekistan, supplied on commercial scale detonation coatings on aircraft turbine blades, molybednum discs as supporting substrates for silicon wafers in diodes thyristors, iron graphite bushes for anti friction applications and other products. A few technologies like synthetic diamond powder production, artificial marble were taken up for lateral technology transfer from the CIS countries to the Indian industry.

    The regional programmes of cooperation include collaborative activities with the European Community and the SAARC countries. The main factors within the multilateral programmes have been the Centre for Science and Technology of Non - Aligned and other countries (NAM S&T Centre), UNDP projects and UNESCO related activities.

    Autonomous Scientific Institutions
    The Department, as part of its programme for supporting science and technology activities all over the country, provides grants-in-aid to the following 13 autonomous scientific research institutions, involved in prime areas of research in basic and applied sciences :

    • Bose Institute, Kolkata
    • Agharkar Research Institute, Pune
    • Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
    • Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences, Calcutta
    • Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology, Pune
    • Institute of Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar
    • Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
    • Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
    • Raman Research Institute, Bangalore
    • S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Calcutta
    • Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow
    • Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Bombay
    • Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun 
    DST also provides financial and administrative support to the following academies and professional bodies which are engaged in the promotion of S&T in the country through the involvement of scientists and engineers; a) Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; b) Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi; c) Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi; d) National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad and e) Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata.

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