Indian Prime Minister Announces Unprecedented Funding for Science Education and Research. (January 10, 2008)

Although Australian and Indian media are preoccupied with cricketing disputes, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used his opening of the 95^th Indian science congress, the largest annual meeting of Indian scientists, at Visakhapatnam on January 3^rd, to introduce massive funding increases for science education and research. He said it is a top priority for his government.

Dr Singh said: "We are planning to fund 30 new Central Universities, five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, and 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology."

The Prime Minister also told his audience that in the next five years India will also be launching 1,600 polytechnics, 10,000 vocational schools and 50,000 skill-development centres. One million schoolchildren will receive science innovation scholarships of 5,000 rupees (A$145) each over the next five years, and 10,000 scholarships of 100,000 rupees (A$2,900) per year will go to those enrolling in science degree courses.

Dr Singh said: "We need a quantum jump in science education and research; this agenda can no longer wait. The time has come for action, and I assure you of my highest personal commitment." He added that a plan for implementing the proposals will be devised in the next six months but overall the funding he outlined will require a fivefold increase in the education budget for 2007–12.

The proposal has been warmly endorsed by the Indian science community but with a degree of caution from some quarters. Dipankar Chatterji, a molecular biophysicist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore said: "The money must be spent in a short period of time; this poses a tremendous challenge to the heads of these institutions."