 "PM Modi stresses removing hurdles in India's research and innovation")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stressed the need to identify and remove obstacles in the research ecosystem of the country while chairing the first governing body meeting of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) at his residence.
The meeting focussed on discussions about India's science and technology landscape and the redesigning of research and development programmes, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
The ANRF was established in 2023 to promote research and development and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and research and development laboratories.
It acts as an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction for scientific research in the country as per the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
During the meeting, the governing body decided to launch a programme in a hub-and-spoke mode by pairing universities where research is at a nascent stage with top-tier established institutions in mentorship mode.
The body suggested preparing a list of domain experts based on their expertise, along with developing a dashboard where information related to research and development happening in the country can be easily tracked.
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Emphasising the need to set big targets, PM Modi said that research should focus on finding new solutions to existing problems. He added that while problems might be global in nature, their solutions must be localised in accordance with Indian needs, according to the PMO's statement.
Stressing the need for scientific monitoring of the utilisation of resources for research and innovation, the Prime Minister said that the scientific community of the country should have faith that there will be no dearth of resources for their endeavours.
The governing body also discussed several areas of strategic interventions of ANRF, including the global positioning of India in key sectors, aligning research and development with national priorities, promoting inclusive growth, capacity building, driving scientific advances, and the innovation ecosystem.
Discussions also revolved around bridging the gap between academic research and industrial applications through industry-aligned translational research.
“The ANRF will launch programmes on solution-focussed research in mission mode in select priority areas like electric vehicle (EV) mobility, advanced materials, solar cells, smart infrastructure, health and medical technology, sustainable agriculture, and photonics,” the PMO statement added.
Emphasising the need to promote fundamental research for the advancement of knowledge, the governing body also decided to set up Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to support interdisciplinary research in humanities and social sciences.