The Department of Public Policy (DPP), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Faridabad was honoured to co-host the NITI Aayog Consultative Meeting on the Ease of Doing Research & Development (EoDR&D): Assessment Framework for Higher Educational Institutions on 10 July 2026 at the Amrita Hospital, Faridabad.
The consultation was chaired by Prof. Vivek Singh, Senior Adviser (Science & Technology), NITI Aayog, and brought together senior leaders from government, science policy, academia, industry, R&D institutions, and international development to deliberate on a vital national question: How can India enhance its institutional ecosystems that make R&D easier, more trustworthy, inclusive and impactful?
Anchored in NITI Aayog’s national vision of “EoDR&D: Removing Obstacles, Promoting Enablers,” the meeting focused on developing practical and future-ready assessment frameworks for HEIs that go beyond measuring research outputs alone. The discussions emphasized the need to assess both external and internal factors impacting research within institutions. The framework shall aim to be practical, non-burdensome, and designed to help institutions improve, not merely rank them.
We were privileged to have the guidance and participation of distinguished leaders including Dr. Ashok A. Sonkusare; Dr. Thyagaraju BM; Ms. Naba Suroor and Ms. Simarjot Kaur from NITI Aayog; Shri Praveen Roy and Dr. Parveen Arora from DST; Dr. Vinay Kumar and Dr S.P. Verma from DSIR; Dr. Gopichand Merugu from UGC; Dr. Rajiv Kumar Singh from CSIR-NPL; Shri Sheel Kapoor, Shri Rohit Saxena, Ms. Ankita Singh, and Shri Vibodh Nautiyal from FAST India; Ms. Famida Khan, Ms. Jyotesna Maurya and others from INSA; Mr Shailendra Sigdel from UNESCO New Delhi; and Dr. Sanchari Mukhopadhyay from the Global Development Network.
Representing Amrita’s wider research ecosystem, Professor Bhavani Rao, Dr. Sanjeev Singh, Dr. Sujit Bhattacharya, and Prof. Kamal Bijlani, brought forward important reflections, recognizing that R&D is not limited to STEM alone but has an interdisciplinary approach, keeping compassion and community-centered innovation at the core. The DPP faculty, Dr. Christopher Coley, Dr. Nimita Pandey, and Dr. Victoria Ustenko, engaged proactively in the discussions.
This consultation marks an important step toward strengthening India’s research capacities for Viksit Bharat @2047. By enabling institutions to diagnose bottlenecks, share best practices, support researchers, and align with national priorities, the EoDR&D framework aims to build a more agile, inclusive and globally competitive R&D ecosystem in India.
Amrita is grateful to the leadership of NITI Aayog and all participating institutions for the opportunity to contribute to this important national effort to support India’s researchers.
