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The National Education Policy 2020 recommended setting up which body to boost research and innovation in India?
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Answer: Option C — National Research Foundation
Detailed Solution
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommended setting up a "National Research Foundation" (NRF) to fund, coordinate and promote research and innovation in India.
About the National Research Foundation:
- It was set up as the "Anusandhan National Research Foundation" (ANRF) under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023, passed by Parliament in August 2023.
- It came into effect in February 2024.
- Its Governing Board is chaired by the Prime Minister, and its Executive Council is chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
- It works under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
- It subsumed the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), which was set up in 2008-09.
- It is expected to have a budget of about 50,000 crore rupees over five years (2023-2028), with a large share from the private sector and other sources.
- It will fund research in natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, medicine, agriculture, social sciences and humanities.
- It aims to build research capacity in universities and colleges, especially those that have little research activity, and to link research with industry and government.
In 2024, it announced the "Partnerships for Accelerated Innovation and Research" (PAIR) programme and a 1 lakh crore rupee "Research Development and Innovation" (RDI) scheme was approved in 2025 to support private sector research.
About NEP 2020:
It was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020.
It was prepared by a committee chaired by the former ISRO chief Dr. K. Kasturirangan.
It replaced the National Policy on Education, 1986 (modified in 1992). India's first National Policy on Education was adopted in 1968.
Its key features include:
- A new "5+3+3+4" school structure in place of the old "10+2" system.
- Teaching in the mother tongue or local language, at least until Class 5.
- A single regulator for higher education, the proposed "Higher Education Commission of India" (HECI).
- Multiple entry and exit options in degree programmes, and an "Academic Bank of Credits".
- A target of 50 per cent gross enrolment ratio in higher education by 2035.
- Increasing public spending on education to 6 per cent of GDP.
- Good to know
- The UGC (1953) funds and regulates universities; NEP proposes replacing it with HECI.
- The NAAC (1994) accredits colleges and universities.
- The NCERT (1961) develops school curricula and textbooks.
Quick tip
Remember: NEP 2020 (Kasturirangan committee; 5+3+3+4) recommended the National Research Foundation, set up as the Anusandhan NRF (ANRF Act 2023; PM chairs the Governing Board; subsumed SERB); UGC = 1953; NCERT = 1961.
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This question tests your understanding of Government Schemes, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the major welfare and development schemes of the Government of India, such as those for financial inclusion, health, housing, agriculture, skill development and women and child welfare, along with their launch year, objectives and ministries. Questions usually ask what a scheme aims to do, when it was launched, or which ministry runs it. For example, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (2014) aims at financial inclusion through bank accounts. Schemes are often renamed, merged or extended, so pair these static facts with the latest updates before banking and government exams. Practise the government schemes questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.