Structural changes in S&T research in India

Before India became an independent country, its scientists and policy maker!; could foresee the importance of science in its development, and accordingly a number of research and development (R&D) institutions were established. However during these five decades of independence, the choice between basic sciences and technology was always a subject of debate. It will be appropriate now to examine the changing patter ns of Science and Technology (S&T) manpower growth to find out the ground truth reality. The present study pertains to the analysis of S&T outturn data in various fields of scientific research that can provide a base for SET planning and policy making. These S&T indicators will be helpful in estimating future requirements, which in turn can be useful to a great extent in science and technology policy formulation. These estimates and future projections are based on mathematical modelling of the data pertaining to the outturn of highly qualified Scientific and Technical (S&T) personnel in India from different faculties over the period 1990-1998. From the trend analysis it is evident that research is no more perceived as an interesting career except in the field of engineering and medicine. The findings further suggest that there is a noticeable shift from basic sciences to technology.