Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh published an article in The Pioneer newspaper on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, titled '12 Years of Science in Service of India', timed to coincide with the completion of two years of the Modi 3.0 government and twelve uninterrupted years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governments since 2014.

Context

June 9, 2026 marks a dual milestone: the second anniversary of the Modi 3.0 cabinet sworn in after the 2024 general elections, and the cumulative completion of twelve consecutive years of Modi-led governments at the Centre. Dr. Singh, who has held the Science and Technology portfolio continuously since 2014, used the occasion to author a retrospective piece under the hashtag #12YearsofSeva.

The article, pinned to Dr. Singh's official X profile, frames the ministry's work over this period as 'science in service of India' — a formulation that links departmental outputs directly to citizen welfare, a consistent communication posture of the ministry since its inception under the current dispensation.

Policy Backdrop

The Ministry of Science and Technology has overseen several landmark initiatives over the twelve-year span. The Atal Innovation Mission, launched in 2016, seeded incubators and Atal Tinkering Labs across schools to build a grassroots innovation pipeline. The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020 replaced the earlier 2013 policy and embedded science and technology goals within broader national development priorities.

The National Education Policy 2020 further deepened this agenda by integrating research and innovation from school level upward. These initiatives have collectively been positioned under the Atmanirbhar Bharat umbrella, which seeks to build indigenous capability across space, biotechnology, and digital infrastructure.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary stakeholders of the ministry's twelve-year record include scientific researchers, national research institutions, CSIR laboratories, the biotechnology sector, and the broader start-up ecosystem that has grown partly on the back of government-backed incubation infrastructure. Dr. Singh's article is aimed at both this specialist audience and a wider public readership.

The framing of science expenditure as service delivery — rather than purely academic or institutional investment — reflects an effort to make the ministry's work legible to a general electorate. Anniversary communications of this nature typically serve to consolidate the government's narrative around governance milestones.

What's Next

Parliamentary deliberations on the 2026-27 science and technology budget are expected to be a key near-term moment, with potential new mission announcements from bodies such as ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) anticipated before the winter session. Dr. Singh's retrospective article is likely to set the rhetorical baseline against which new commitments will be measured in the months ahead.

As the Modi government enters the second half of its third term, the science ministry's ability to demonstrate tangible outcomes — in areas such as deep-tech start-ups, space commercialisation, and bioeconomy growth — will shape both its policy credibility and its political messaging ahead of future electoral cycles.