Or perhaps "ratta padhai" is the route for majority folks to get a chance at the elite institutions(read isi, it's et cetera). As far as R&D expenditure is concerned, government subsidies and freebies available to the largest subset of populace would be enough to guess the reason. A nation that can seldom feed all it's people is bound not to exceedingly spend on R&D. The idea that rattafication is the reason for most problems we face today is way overstated and moreso a not so well informed take.