Over the years, the words “research” and “development” have come to be associated in pairs, showing the importance of research as a precursor of development activities.
Initially, for the ongoing 2015-16 fiscal year, the government of Bangladesh allocated a total of Tk655.01 crore to four ministries for facilitating research work in order to enhance the country’s economic status for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This is 0.04% of the estimated GDP for this fiscal year, but is still lower than the average budgetary allocation for research in the South Asian countries which is 0.79%.
The Agriculture Ministry was allocated Tk289.50 crore, Science and Technology Tk129.02 crore, Health and Family Planning Tk80.70 crore, and Education Tk21.88 crore.
Recently, the government has allocated a further Tk100 crore for research upon special instructions from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The entire amount, Tk655.01 crore plus Tk100 crore, was to be sized out of the budgetary allocation for the “unexpected expenditure fund” and Finance Minster AMA Muhith has recently given his consent to this as well.
Yesterday, the Finance Ministry – the authority looking after these allocations – held a meeting in its auditorium in Dhaka.
The meeting decided that instead of giving the money to the four ministries, the latest Tk100 crore would be distributed among all the ministries.
Both independent and institutional researchers can apply for research grants from this fund but there are certain criteria that they would have to meet. For an independent researcher, the applicant must have strong educational background and previous completed researches in the particular field.
In 2010, scientist Maqsudul Alam and Jute Research Institute jointly decoded a jute genome, opening up new doors for the development of the world’s most adorned biodegradable natural fibre. That research project was funded by the government.
Professor Yesmeen Huq of physics at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet has recently returned the Tk4 crore to the government that she had taken as research grant.
Experts say there are scopes for unscrupulous researchers to take money and not complete research. There are also allegations that funds are sometimes disbursed on political considerations.
Just like the three other ministries, the Ministry of Science and Technology has a committee to monitor and evaluate research grant applications. Renowned ENT specialist Dr Pran Gopal Datta, also a former VC of BSMMU, leads that committee.
An official of that committee said it is not easy to embezzle fund in the name of fake researches because the applicants have to go through strong scrutiny at the ministry and research progress is evaluated very six months.
KAS Murshid, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said: “A paradigm shift is needed for properly disbursing this massive allocation of Tk600 crore through the ministries.”
Noted economist AB Mirza Azizul Islam said the government research institutes should relate to the business entities for making things fruitful.
“We need more allocation in research in the coming years if we are to promote ourselves to the middle income status,” he said.