Funds for grant applicants

Abstract

I am certain that many readers agree with the points that Gowrishankar1 has raised in his well-argued letter on the roles of experts and finance officials in deciding the amount and composition of funds to be allotted to grant applicants. The fact that he had to resort to the RTI route (twice) in order to get details on a research grant is saddening in itself. More troublesome is the fact that the finance people overrule the subject experts in deciding what equipment the applicant is allowed to acquire for his research and what amount for laboratory consumables. In the instant case, the poor applicant had to agree to the reduced budget (asked for Rs 78 lakhs, finally offered Rs 25 lakhs, no to the desired equipment),‘akin to obtaining consent at gunpoint’(as Gowrishankar puts it eloquently).