Right step, at last!
By Technology Times at September 24, 2011 | 4:26 pm | PrintA- Reset A+
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has recently accorded approval in principle to the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy-2011. The document, came out after a wide gap of about 16 years and is now set to be presented to the federal cabinet for final approval, proposes allocation of at least one per cent by 2015 and two per cent of the GDP by 2020 and focus on environment science, bio-technology, energy, water, mineral, ocean-sciences, engineering sectors as the critical areas demanding priority in economic development. Besides, the Prime Minister also directed to Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology to approach the Ministry of Information Technology for the provision of funds to effectively run the policy. Anyway, it’s a positive initiative on the part of the government that it at least ended its long slumber and felt the need to draft science and technology policy to ensure national science and economic development. However, the policy document is still silent over different factors involved and multiple questions are still there to be answered to. It is not yet clear that whether the stakeholders were consulted before finalizing the policy as reportedly there are still critical reservations about the nature as well as implementation of, what they called, immature science and technology policy and subsequent slow-paced progress on various research projects launched intermittently in the country. The input of scientists’ community, who undoubtedly provide the very foundation of a strong state in terms of science and technology development, is not incorporated effectively in the policy document before its approval. This gives strength to the doubts about the efficacy of the science and technology policy as well as its implementation. By approving this policy without completing any homework and consultations, the government has exposed itself to sharp criticism from the stakeholders. This kind of approach towards handling sensitive and important issues gives birth to a question that if the government was to unveil this ‘still silent policy’, then what was the justification for the government to delay it for long 16 years; this could have been done only in days. The core of the policy document must be to ensure science and technology as well as economic stability in the country. The government needs to re-examine the past 16 years progress, pinpoint all the negative factors and bottlenecks in the way of achieving the relevant progress, and reprioritize its options, if it wants to set the path of progress on track. Otherwise, fate of this newly approved policy would be the same as has been in the past.
