'Funding for research touches 1 p.c. of GNP'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 9. The Union Government's funding support for scientific research in the country has reached nearly one per cent of the gross national product (GNP) and this has enabled the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to sponsor more basic research programmes through national laboratories and universities.

At a media conference here on Friday, the Union DST Secretary, Dr. V.S. Ramamurthy, said the Prime Minister had, during the Indian Science Congress 2000 at Pune, announced that the level of funding for scientific research would reach one per cent of the GNP in one year and two per cent in the next five years.

The present funding had reached about Rs. 15,000 crores or 0.92 per cent of the GNP, he added.

The DST was turning its attention to areas such as science and technology education, research and training, especially in areas deemed relevant to the Indian context, sustainable, eco-friendly and meeting the requirements of the population in rural areas.

The second area of concentration was to market the technologies. The Department strove to act as a bridge between the lab and the market and make technology available at affordable rates to the common man.

Other programmes with funding from the Departments of Science and Technology and Ocean Research and the CSIR had been started to ``nurture students into careers in science''.

To strengthen research in educational institutions, a programme to Fund Infrastructure in Science and Technology (FIST) had been started and this programme targeted science departments in universities.

The idea was to improve infrastructure such as power, refrigeration and airconditioning and for specific infrastructure needed for higher research and to improve libraries.

The Technology Information Broadcasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), under the DST, promoted industry-relevant research and educational programmes.

Under its `Mission Reach' programme for educational institutions, the DST had set up the TIFAC-Centre Of Relevance and Excellence (CORE) at different places.

The TIFAC-CORE centre at the Shanmuga College of Engineering in Thanjavur concentrated on advanced computing and information processing. The centre would organise an international conference on nano-computing technology trends from December 16 to 18.

Dr. Ramamurthy said the needs of computing technology were pushing the power of microelectronic devices to their ultimate capability. To maintain the growth further, scientists and engineers were looking at nano-computing devices containing molecular scale components.

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