A group of researchers and scientists the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN), has demanded that the Central government re-examine its proposal to privatise research funding under the National Research Foundation Bill, 2023.
It has called for “a thorough open scrutiny by the scientific community” on this proposal. The researchers are concerned about the centralisation of funding, lack of academic oversight and the proposal’s not addressing existing structural problems.
The AIPSN has launched a signature campaign demanding that the Union government remit the National Research Foundation Bill to a Parliamentary standing committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, for a comprehensive assessment. The committee should invite development authorities, line departments of the Central and State governments, representatives of organisations working with the scientific community and individuals to submit their views on the Bill, it said.
