On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the central government’s ninth anniversary under the Bharatiya Janata Party’s leadership. The prime minister described the BJP’s administration as serving the country by implementing decisions and initiatives that would “improve people’s lives. PM Modi Twitter, “Today, as we complete 9 years in service to the nation, I am filled with humility and gratitude. Every decision made, and every action taken, has been guided by the desire to improve the lives of people. We will keep working even harder to build a developed India.”
Is the glass of science half-full or half empty by way of support for science and technology-related activities in the last nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi On government?
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would put roadblocks to the development of modern science with its leaders probably harping more on old Hindu philosophy and glories of India as a powerhouse in ancient Vedic times.
With the words “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, and Jai Anusandhan,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that science is not only the basis for solutions, advancement, and innovation but also the inspiration behind the advancement of modern India. Today, when India is moving towards leading the fourth industrial revolution, the role of India’s science and people related to this field is very important. In such a situation, the responsibility of people in administration and policymaking increases significantly.
The government has launched the Digital India program with the vision of transforming India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge-based economy, by ensuring digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment, and bridging the digital divide. The program is centered on three key vision areas, namely digital infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen, governance, and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens. The overall goal is to ensure that digital technologies improve the life of every citizen, expand India’s digital economy, and creating investment and employment opportunities, and create digital technological capabilities in India. At the Indian spaceport to watch a rocket launch on June 30, 2014, he delivered an inspiring speech about the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in which he referred to the Indian scientific community as “brilliant.”
BUT, The National Biotech Regulatory Authority Bill has been pending for a Very long-long time and there is no sign of it seeing the light of day, as consequence application of biotechnology is suffering since the government is unwilling to decide on releasing more genetically modified varieties of crops into the farmer’s fields.
In terms of finances, scientists in India were bracing themselves for the worst—a significant reduction in budgetary allocations. But in 2016, they were taken aback by the generosity of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who increased the Ministry of Science and Technology’s central plan spending by Rs 811 crore (or nearly 11%) from the previous fiscal year. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) received an increase of Rs 193 crore, or 12% More Than The Previous Financial Year.
Major achievements
India created a massive jump in its global ranking on the Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st in the year 2015 to 40th in 2022 among 130 economies of the world. India ranks 2nd among 34 lower-middle-income economies and 1st among 10 Central and Southern Asian economies in terms of GII.
India ranks third among the most attractive investment destinations for technology transactions in the world.
Women’s participation in extramural R&D has also doubled in the last 9 years
India’s significant rise in terms of number of publications in SCI journals – globally ranked 3rd now from 6th in 2013.
The National Supercomputing Mission launched in 2015 has been boosting the national high-performance computing infrastructure with 4 Entry level and 15 mid-level systems with 24PF compute capacity systems deployed in various institutions across the country.
