DailyPost 360
RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE NATION
While we chart out the growth agenda of organisations / institutions, or of the nation, a parallel blueprint of reaching the commensurate research capabilities & delivery needs to planned & executed. Growth agenda, individual or cumulative has to be sustained by research & development, failing which the growth trajectory leads into wilderness, never to come back on the rails as anticipated. We are replete with examples of this type, but have decided not learn from our experience & keep repeating the failed path to our detriment & landed ourselves into a non-recovery mode.
Funding, autonomy & supposedly enlightened leadership has not helped in creating research agendas for institutions leave aside worthwhile research products for the nation. Seventy years is a long time & wasting further time for sure would be futile, if we go by experience but for some shining examples like ISRO. What is dished out in the name of research & validated by the organisations themselves, can at best be called self serving.
A national policy on research with reasonable detailing, can be the right starting point. The earnestness, vigour & aggression behind it, gets clearly spelt out in black & while. This policy document will have all the wherewithal to develop it into a near National Research Blueprint based on our current day requirements & the anticipated developments.
Research is neither a one time job nor a short gestation period activity. Only concentrating on low hanging fruits is also not the answer. The country has to get ready for a long haul, for the next generation to reap the benefits & over a period of time, a research culture & ecosystem will develop on the building blocks outlined.
The groupings of institutions & renowned professionals in the field with a specific project & timeline would help immensely. A collaborative approach would develop, a must for high end, path breaking, tedious & time taking research.
A NATIONAL RESEARCH BLUEPRINT IS A MUST FOR SELF RELIANT DEVELOPMENT
Sanjay Sahay