Research labs abandoned by govt, may have to fund by themselves

New Delhi, Oct 29: The Ministry of Science and Technology is cash-strapped and that has affected scientific research labs who have been asked to start self-financing their own projects, send monthly reports with assurance that the research is in compliance to government rules and regulations. The report should also highlight how the research is going to help the social and the economic objectives of the Narendra Modi government for the poor and common man.

Following this, all CSIR labs have decided to turn all research projects into 'for-profit' ventures in the next 2 years.

However, what worried officials more was the involvement of RSS in the Chintan Shivir held at Dehradun in June that underlined the idea. A senior official said,"The most worrisome aspect was representatives from Vigyan Bharati, an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) being part of this discussion. The idea was to ensure ‘indigenous science' was also promoted. But what was the RSS doing in this meeting."

Incidentally, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) & Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) - both under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) have not yet been affected by the move. Barring that, a number of other rules have also been put in place, especially relating to the idea and span of any project.

This has also affected the number of SRF admissions in the agencies, which has gone down drastically.

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