Government intends to return BRL 273 million to the Ministry of Science and Technology

The federal government will send the Congress, this week, a bill that proposes the return of BRL 273 million for the budget of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MCTI), in order to finance research grants and other activities of the portfolio. The money is part of a budget of R$ 600 million initially destined to Science, but that the Executive and Congress decided to transfer to other areas at the beginning of October.

At the end of that month, at the meeting in which members of the Chamber’s Science and Technology Commission were trying to restore the R$ 600 million withheld, the minister Paulo Guedes criticized the budget execution of other ministers, especially Science, Technology and Innovation.

At the time, Guedes referred to the minister landmarks bridges as “dumb” and “incompetent” for not executing resources that, according to him, are stopped.

The release of the R$ 273 million was communicated by the Ministry of Economy to the president of the commission, Aliel Machado (PSB-PR). To the deputy, the folder informed that the text of the bill is ready and under review by the Secretary of Government. Sought, Segov did not manifest itself until publication.

“It has already been authorized by the working group (the Budget Execution Board) and they are going to send a PLN (Congress Bill) returning BRL 273 million, a part of the BRL 600 million,” stated Machado.

Execution

It is an important resource for the sector. Without the money, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) saw the main public notice for financing research in the country affected, the Universal Public Call of 2021. The program foresees to apply up to R$ 250 million in scholarships.

The amount that will be released exceeds by more than three times the R$ 76 million that the National Institute for Space Research (inpe), linked to the MCTI, received this year, being the smallest budget in its history.

The R$ 600 million removed from the folder are part of a larger amount, of R$ 690 million, which had been released by the Executive in August. Initially, R$ 655.4 million would go to the National Scientific and Technological Development Fund (FNDCT) – a financial reserve whose resources were restricted by the Executive.

Before the vote, however, an official letter sent by the Executive modified the project and redirected R$ 600 million to other areas.

“This (the R$273 million) doesn’t solve everything, it continues to be a problem, an absurdity, a mistake. But, minimally, the issue of (research) grants and some other MCTI projects may have their impact reduced or diminished with the release of the money”, stated Machado. “It was a war. It is still being.”

The information is from the newspaper The State of São Paulo.