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Recently, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare has highlighted that there has been an increase in 2021-22’s budget of the Ministry of Science and Technology compared to 2020-21.
- In the Union Budget 2021-22, Rs. 71268.77 crore has been allocated to the Ministry, as against Rs. 65,011.8 crore allocated in 2020-2021.
- However, the 2020-2021 budget was revised and increased to Rs. 78,866 crore because of Covid-19 pandemic.
- The 2021-22 budget includes several initiatives to promote science and technology (S&T) and innovation with applications in the country.
Major Schemes
- National Research Foundation
- It is an autonomous body envisioned for supporting researchers working across several streams of S&T with special focus on universities.
- A total allocation of Rs. 50,000 crore over 5 years for its setup.
- Deep Ocean Mission
- It aims to better understand the Deep Ocean which offers opportunities in mapping, exploring and utilising the oceanic resources.
- It will be coordinated by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and has an outlay of more than Rs. 4,000 crore over five years.
- Coverage: Deep ocean survey, development of technologies for exploration and harnessing of ocean resources as well as projects for the conservation and bioprospecting of deep-sea biodiversity.
- National Language Translation Mission
- It will enable the translation of governance-and-policy related knowledge on the internet to major Indian languages using technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and speech recognition technologies together with traditional methods.
- It will work towards creating a “voice-based internet” which will be accessible in popular Indian languages and not be dominated by Hindi or English.
- Hydrogen Energy Mission
- Launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
- It aims to generate hydrogen from green power sources and also manage its storage, transport and utilisation.
- For this and further research purposes, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is developing a Biomass to Hydrogen Mission.
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will also be contributing to this mission.
- Mission COVID Suraksha
- DBT’s budget includes a Special Atmanirbhar Package of Rs. 900 crore.
- It provides support for the development of an ecosystem for a safe, efficacious and affordable vaccine manufacturing for Covid-19.
- Set up of Umbrella Structures
- Umbrella structures in nine cities will be set up for building better synergies among R&D institutions, Universities and Colleges supported by the government while also retaining their internal autonomy.
- The Ministry of Education will coordinate and a Glue Grant will be set aside for this purpose.
- The DBT is implementing the University Research Joint Industry Translation (URJIT) Clusters which are being set up in 10 locations as per the Budget 2020-21. These will complement the activities of the Umbrella Structures.
- Other Schemes
- Rs. 1,500 crore for proposed scheme to promote digital modes of payment.
- New Space India Limited: It will launch PSLV-CS51 carrying Brazil’s Amazonia Satellite and some Indian satellites.
- Gaganyaan Mission: Training of Indian astronauts on Generic Space Flight aspects, in Russia and the first unmanned launch is planned for December 2021.
Significance of the Move
- Various new schemes would further boost the science and technology ecosystem in the country, reach its benefits to the people and help the country become a major force in science and technology (S&T) globally.
- The budget will substantially boost support for research and development (R&D) in the key identified areas of national priorities.
- All these newly announced schemes are in line with the projections in the draft Science Technology and Innovation Policy 2021, which has been put up for public consultations.
- India has received global attention and appreciation for the efficient and effective handling of Covid-19 pandemic which was possible due to the all-round and focused efforts initiated, coordinated and steered by the Indian Government.
- India is placed at 3rd among countries in scientific publication featured within the top 50 innovative economies. An increasing number of Ph.Ds, the higher education systems and the number of startups show that India is on a positive climb with respect to the S&T development.
