It is widely recognised that scientific social research is critical for development. Any nation that aspires to advance in economic and social development needs to put proper emphasis on scientific research on social issues. An adequate budget and the right policy approach are essential in this regard. Building a national research body alongside patronising the private sector to get involved is instrumental. Besides developed nations, some developing countries like Brazil, China, India and Indonesia have already demonstrated their strength in scientific research. For instance, China was the top country in the list of scientific publications in English, followed by the United States and India, respectively, in the SJR - International Science Ranking list in 2022. Brazil and Indonesia ranked 14th and 25th on the list.
Bangladesh ranked way behind at 53rd on the list last year with 13,396 scientific publications. The good news is that Bangladesh has made some progress in scientific publications over the years. In 2012, the country's rank was 58th on the list when the number of publications was only 3,446. Thus, the country's effort in scientific advancement is not negligible, although it needs a long way to go to make a impressive presence.
One of the barriers to scientific progress is inadequate research in several national research bodies. Many of these bodies do not have the necessary human resources and logistics to conduct rigorous research and studies. The budgetary support is small, and the scope to attract foreign grants is also limited. A news report published in a national vernacular daily last week presented a gloomy picture of this connection.
The report unveiled that many national research bodies and organisations are headed by bureaucrats, mainly concentrating on administrative areas. These bureaucrats have little knowledge and understanding of the relevant areas, and they mostly come from different backgrounds. The net outcome is insignificant research.
For instance, the Bangladesh National Scientific Technical Documentation Centre (BANSDOC) is now headed by an additional secretary. His previous working experience is primarily in the field and office administration. Again, the current director general of River Research Institute is a joint secretary with long experience as a project director in various national projects like Bangabandhu Novo Theatre in Rangpur. The Chairman of Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO) is an additional secretary from the admin cadre who earlier served as chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. He obtained his degree in agriculture science.
Another leading vernacular daily tries to find the status of the country's 60 boards, commissions, authorities, institutes and other bodies. It saw that bureaucrats head two-thirds of these organisations, and many are actually appointed there as 'punishment.' It means they have little interest in working on the advancement of the organisations. Instead, many want to pass their incumbency by doing the regular functions only where in-depth research or serious study is not prioritised.
It will be, however, unfair to blame these bureaucrats only as they are not solely responsible for not making the relevant national bodies efficient and resourceful. It is the lack of policy priority that hinders the growth of these bodies. Appointing competent professionals as heads of the different national research bodies is critical, which is ignored in many cases. The policymakers need to come out from the approach of appointing any bureaucrat as head of any such organisation. It is not difficult to find bureaucrats who have a better understanding of some of these bodies so they can produce better output as heads.
It is also important to note that behind the successes of agricultural research bodies are the agro-specialists who have primarily led these organisations over the years. Policymakers may take lessons from those and review the current practice of appointing the head of the research bodies.
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