A Cabinet Committee on Science and Technology Is a Must Today

It's a strategic imperative for India as technology is at the core of power in today's information age

- NITIN PAI

India's government must set up a Cabinet Committee on Science and Technology (CCST) to make India a global power of this century. Chaired by the Prime Minister, it should include the ministers for home affairs, finance, external affairs, defence, electronics and information technology, commerce and education. In this information age, technology is a core element of national power, the primary agent of economic transformation and an important aspect of the day-to-day life of citizens. Individual departments and states must still be responsible for governing the technological aspects of their domains in a decentralized manner, as they do now. But there is a case for a higher-level mechanism to set the overall policy direction, coordinate between ministries and oversee strategic plans in various science and technology domains. A cabinet committee is an appropriate structure in our governmental system.