One Nation One Subscription
Also called: ONOS · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) is a Central Sector Scheme, which means the Union government fully funds and runs it. The Union Cabinet approved it on 25 November 2024. Under ONOS, the government buys one national subscription to international research journals. Researchers in government colleges, universities and central R&D bodies can then read these journals without paying for each one. At approval, it covered about 13,000 e-journals from 30 publishers across 6,300+ government institutions, with about ₹6,000 crore set aside for 2025, 2026 and 2027. INFLIBNET, a national library network body, runs it.
ONOS matters because research needs access to the latest published work. Smaller government institutions often cannot afford costly journals. ONOS gives them the same access as the top institutions.
Example
A lecturer at a government college in a small town can now read the same international journals as a researcher at a top central institute, without the college paying for each journal. ONOS also gives ₹150 crore a year towards the fee that some journals charge authors to make a paper free for everyone to read (open access). By 2025-26 the scheme had grown to 32 publishers and 7,499 institutions.
Don't confuse with
- SWAYAM: a platform of free online courses (MOOCs) for individual learners from Grade 9 onwards. ONOS gives institutions access to research journals; it does not teach courses.
- Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): a statutory body that gives money for research projects. ONOS only pays for access to published research.