• Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the government of India, chaired the third meeting to review the progress made towards transformation of the country’s regulatory ecosystem for medical products, which was a follow-up of the earlier review meeting held on August 21, 2024.

• PSA appreciated the efforts of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and emphasized that a robust and enabling regulatory ecosystem will help to build trust in domestic and international markets, boost manufacturing and exports. 

• He said that these efforts will further augment the competitive advantage that India has in the manufacturing of medical products and spur innovations in the entire sector.

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser

• The government established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) in November 1999. 

• The PSA’s office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the PM and Cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation with a focus on application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with government departments, institutions and industry. 

• The Office of PSA was placed under the Cabinet Secretariat in August 2018.

Functions of office of the PSA:

i) Science and technology fundamentals with applied research in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, both in central and state governments.

ii) Enabling future preparedness in emerging domains of science and technology.

iii) Formulating and coordinating major inter-ministerial science and technology missions.

iv) Providing an enabling ecosystem for technology led innovations and techno-entrepreneurship.

v) Driving innovation and technology delivery towards solving socio-economic challenges for sustainable growth.

vi) Fostering effective public-private linkages for driving research and innovation.

Former Principal Scientific Advisers:

• Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (November 1999 - November 2001)

• Dr. R. Chidambaram (November 2001 to March 2018)

• Prof. K. VijayRaghavan (April 2018 - April 2022).

Key initiatives of the Office of the PSA

PM-STIAC

The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) is an overarching council that expedite the PSA’s Office to appraise the status in specific science and technology domains, comprehend challenges, formulate interventions, develop a futuristic roadmap and advise the Prime Minister accordingly.

The PM-STIAC aims to facilitate, through its missions, the process of collaboration and focus needed to solve complex problems in a reasonable time-frame.

Empowered Technology Group (ETG)

Established with the approval of the Union Cabinet, the Empowered Technology Group (ETG) aims to proactively lay down, coordinate, and oversee national-level policies relating to:

i) Procurement and induction of technologies.

ii) Research & Development (R&D) in technologies that require large outlays in resources, both financial and human.

iii) Render sound and timely advice for determining direction and trajectory of government's R&D and technology development programmes.

ETG is supported by Technology Advisory Group comprising members from academia, industry and other important sectors.

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