National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023
The Union Cabinet approved the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023.
The legislation aims to establish the NRF as an apex body to provide “high-level strategic direction” to scientific research in the country under the National Education Policy (NEP) at an estimated cost of ₹50,000 crore between 2023 and 2028.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be the “administrative” department of the NRF, which will have a governing Board of eminent researchers and professionals.
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The Prime Minister will be the ex-officio president of the Board and the Union Ministers of Science and Technology and Education ex-officio vice-presidents.
The NRF’s functioning will be governed by an executive council chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
The new law will repeal the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established by Parliament in 2008 and subsumes it into the NRF.
When the NRF starts functioning, close to ₹36,000 crore is expected from the private sector (as investments into research).
The government will contribute ₹10,000 crore over five years.
The NRF will prioritise research funding and the executive council will decide on what areas need support.
The DST, the main source of funds for several autonomous research bodies, will continue to get the budget it annually receives.
The DST also funds several scholarships and capacity building programmes. They will continue doing so.
Need of the bill
A Bill was necessary because current laws made it hard for private research organisations to contribute to a funding body such as the NRF.
The NRF was meant to ensure that scientific research was conducted and funded equitably with greater participation from the private sector.
Right now, we have eminent institutions like the IITs and IISc that get a bulk of research funding but State universities get very little... about 10% of the research funds. The NRF will correct this.
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