Demand to increase the budgetary allocation for research grant to 2 per cent of GDP

Updated on: Monday, September 17, 2012

Prof Yogesh Singh, Vice Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad University here, has urged the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to increase the budgetary allocation for research grant to 2 per cent of GDP from the present 0.9 per cent.

Prof Singh was addressing the two-day Science Conference, which started here yesterday. The Science Congress, with `Science for Shaping the Future of India' as its theme, has been jointly organised by MSU and Indian Science Congress Association (Baroda chapter) to mark 100 years of ISCA and 150th birth anniversary of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad, erstwhile ruler of Baroda.

Prof Singh said that the Prime Minister himself, sometime ago, had emphasised the need to increase the allocation for scientific research grant to 2 per cent of GDP  during the 12th Five Year Plan. The PM should take steps accordingly, he said.

Dr R A Mashelkar, former president of Indian National Science Congress, said, "The future challenges ranging from climate change to urbanisation will all crucially hinge on the contribution of science." "We must bring the benefits of science to all the humanity, not just a privileged few," he said.

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