Science Technology and Innovation Policy | 03 Jun 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (Office of PSA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) have jointly initiated the formulation of a new national Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020).

Key Points

  • It will be the 5th STIP of India and is being formulated at a crucial juncture when India and the world are tackling the Covid-19.
    • It will integrate the lessons of the pandemic including the building of an Atmanirbhar Bharat by leveraging India’s strengths in research and development, design, science and technology workforce and institutions, huge markets, demographic dividend, diversity and data.
  • The STIP 2020 formulation process will be six-months long and has been organised into 4 highly interlinked tracks:
    • Track I: It involves an extensive public and expert consultation process through Science Policy Forum, a dedicated platform for soliciting inputs from larger public and expert pools during and after the policy drafting process.
    • Track II: It comprises experts-driven thematic consultations to feed evidence-informed recommendations into the policy drafting process. 21 focused thematic groups have been constituted for this purpose.
    • Track III: It involves extensive intra-state and intra-department consultation with Ministries and States.
    • Track IV: It constitutes an apex level multi-stakeholder consultation.
  • Previous Four STIPs:
    • Scientific Policy Resolution 1958:
      • India’s first major science policy can be traced back to the year 1958.
      • SPR 1958 laid the foundation of the scientific enterprise and scientific temper in India.
    • Technology Policy Statement 1983:
      • The primary feature of TPS 1983 was technological self-reliance through promotion and development of indigenous technologies.
      • Adoption of indigenous technology would reduce vulnerabilities in critical areas and would help maximise the utilisation of local (human and material) resources.
    • Science and Technology Policy 2003:
      • Its aim was to keep up the pace with science and technology, to stay competitive in an increasingly globalised world and to meet the primary goal of equitable and sustainable development.
      • It called to invest heavily in the research and development sector with the aim of increasing investment to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
    • Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013:
      • The decade of 2010 to 2020 was declared as a decade of innovation.
      • It was acknowledged that in order to stay globally competitive, it was necessary to make a transition into a knowledge-based economy.
      • This policy document was a step in the direction towards building a robust national innovation ecosystem.

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser

  • It was set-up in November 1999 by the Cabinet Secretariat.
  • Objectives:
    • To evolve policies, strategies and missions for the generation of innovations and support systems for multiple applications.
    • To generate science and technology tasks in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with Government departments, institutions and industry.
    • To function as the Secretariat to the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet, with the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India as its Chairman.
  • The Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) is an overarching council that facilitates the PSA’s office.

Department of Science and Technology

  • The foundation of DST was laid on 3rd May 1971 along with the model of National Science Foundation (NSF), USA.
  • It provides funding and also makes policies and co-ordinates scientific work with other countries.
  • It empowers scientists and scientific institutions and also works with a highly distributed system permeating stakeholders ranging from school college, PhD, Postdoc students, young scientists, startups and NGOs working in Science and Technology.

Source: PIB