A parliamentary panel, flagging the Anusandhan National Research Foundation’s (ANRF) limited focus on science, technology, agriculture, and health, on Monday recommended the Centre to launch a parallel initiative to promote humanities and social sciences research in higher education and to allocate a portion of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) funds specifically for research.
Set up in 2023 in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, ANRF promotes research, innovation and entrepreneurship across various fields of science, engineering, and technology. Launched in 2017, HEFA funds infrastructure and research in higher educational institutions through loans.
Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports in its report on review of the government’s response to its September 2023 recommendations on NEP implementation in higher education, stressed that its call for research support was meant to be broad-based, covering humanities and social sciences, which it said are vital to social, cultural, and economic progress.
“However, it is concerned by the ANRF’s limited focus on science, technology, agriculture, and health technology…Therefore, the committee recommends a parallel initiative to support humanities and social sciences research in higher education.”
While ministry in its action taken response stated that around 2500 HEIs and 300 universities have established Research and Development (R&D) cells at their campuses and 14,518 Institution’s Innovation Council (IICs) have been set up in 28 states and 9 UTs, the panel asked the ministry to provide a report on the progress made in universal establishment of R&D cells in all HEIs.
While the education ministry said HEFA funds support research facilities and provides grants to 2500 higher education institutions (HEIs) through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the panel reiterated its call to earmark a fixed share for research and innovation to ensure consistent funding.
“The ministry has unfortunately not acknowledged this recommendation in its response. The committee therefore, reiterates this recommendation,” the committee said in its latest report.
The committee has criticised the ministry for ignoring its recommendations on tailored teacher training and incentives for those working in marginalised communities, as well as on research and innovation in this area. It reiterated that training materials should meet community-specific needs, incentives should be provided, and a dedicated centre be set up to conduct community-focused education research to guide policy, curriculum, and teacher training.
The panel has called for “synergized collaboration” between ministry and states for successful implementation of the NEP 2020. It also asked the ministry to develop a formal feedback mechanism for stakeholders on the Multi Entry and Multiple Exit (MEME) scheme and other NEP initiatives, and the creation of a central tracker to monitor the policy’s implementation in higher education.