SCHEMES FOR PROMOTING YOUTH IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

RAJYA SABHA 

SCHEMES FOR PROMOTING YOUTH IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

3190.  Dr. Banda Prakash:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

(a) the details of schemes being implemented by Government to promote Science and Technology in the country and the achievements made thereunder, State/UT-wise;

(b) the details of financial and technological assistance being provided by Government under these schemes, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether Government has framed any policy to encourage the youth in the field of Science and Technology; and

(d) if so, the details thereof along with the achievements made therein?

(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

• Research & Development
• S&T Institutional and Human Capacity Building,
• Innovation, Technology Development and Deployment for socio-economic development

Promotion of S&T across all States/UTs of the country is accomplished through three departments of the Ministry namely Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research/ Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. These departments support projects to create S&T infrastructure and manpower, S&T led innovations and startups, technology development and seeding cutting-edge, futuristic areas of S&T to connect and empower following stakeholders:

• Universities, IITs, R&D Institutions
• Youth, Students, Scientists, Researchers
• Women Scientists, Scientists from weaker segments of society
• Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Startups
• Industry, Community based organizations
• State Governments, Ministries
• International connects

DST plays a pivotal in promotion of S&T in the country and is the key driving force for its stimulation. Some of the noteworthy schemes/programmes of DST are:

• Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)
• Technology Mission Initiative
• State Science and Technology Programme (SSTP),
• Science and Society Programme (SSP),
• Tribal Sub Plan (TSP)
• Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP)
• Women Scientists Scheme,
• Technology Development Programme (TDP)
• National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC)
• Fund for Improvement of S&T (FIST)
• Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institute (SATHI)
• Technology Business Incubators (TBI)
• National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI)

Apart from above mentioned schemes, DST through its Autonomous Body, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has numerous initiatives to promote S&T across the country.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been providing grant for development/promotion of biotechnology in various States of the country. The support is primarily for Basic and Translational Research & Development for Agriculture Crop Biotechnology, Basic Inter-disciplinary Biology, Animal Biotechnology, Health, Food and Nutrition including Vaccines, Drugs, Regenerative Medicine, Bioengineering, Terrestrial, Marine and Environmental Biotechnology, Clean Energy, System and Synthetic Biology, Human Genetics and Genome Analysis. DBT also supports Biotechnology for societal development to generate new knowledge, leads and technologies to promote biotechnology at community level.

The Council for Industrial and Scientific Research (CSIR) through its dynamic network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Complexes and 5 units is creating cutting-edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas across the country. The R&D done in these institutions provides significant technological intervention in many areas with regard to societal efforts which include environment, health, drinking water, food, housing, energy, farm and non-farm sectors that could indirectly lead to employment generation of youth.

Some notable achievements under above mentioned schemes/programmes are as follows:

• Ten state-of-the-art national facilities have been established through Intensification of Research in High Priority Areas (IRHPA) Scheme of SERB. In last three years SERB approved institution of 4 Cryo- Electron Microscopy Facilities in North, East, West, South regions to create research knowledge base and skills for cryo-EM research and thereby establish leadership in structural biology, enzymology, ligand/drug discovery, and to combat new and emerging diseases. During the last three years, 6200 publications in SCI Journals were reported and a total of 293 patents were filed from SERB funded projects. Out of these publications, 109 papers were published in Journals havingimpact factor of more than 10 and 754 papers in Journals having impact factor between 10 and 5.

• Under Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIF) programme, instruments that are vital for pursuing research in many areas of science and technology are established in various academic institutes, universities and R&D organizations. Currently, 15 SAIFs are functioning at various academic/R&D institutions in the country. The achievements of the SAIFs include publication of about 2,500 research papers per year. About 20,000 researchers across the country utilize and get benefited from the facilities provided by the SAIFs every year. About 90% of the users are from academic sector. About 1,35,000 samples were analyzed at the facilities during the supported period.

• Under Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST) 2912 S&T departments spread over 625 Academic Institutions and PG colleges were supported for strengthening the teaching and research infrastructure with a total investment of about Rs 2948 crores. Numerous State-of-the-art research facilities have been established across different R&D organizations throughout the Nation. During the last three years, more than 60,000 researchers (including faculty/ research Scholars/ PG students) have benefited in achieving around 5500 publications.

• Ministry is also supporting projects in newer areas such as Smart Grids, Offgrids, Building Energy Efficiency, Alternate Fuels, Clean Coal Technologies, Clean Energy Materials, Renewable & Clean Hydrogen in alignment with Clean Energy, Biomedical Device alignment with Swasth Bharat, Waste Management in alignment with Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities.

• In last three years, more than 1000 women scientists with break in career were supported under Women Scientists Scheme across the country to address the challenge of gender equality in R&D.

• Under State Science and Technology Programme (SSTP) of DST, Odisha State Council for Science and Technology, Karnataka State Council of Science and Technology, Tamilnadu State Council for Science and Technology, Kerala State Council of Science and Technology, Bihar Council on Science and Technology (BCST) supported, 3000 projects to Under Graduate students under its Student Project Programme (SPP) to encourage their efforts in science and technology.

• DST has been supporting establishment of Technology Business Incubators (TBI) to support innovators and entrepreneurs in setting up of new ventures and startups and also provides financial assistance to early stage startups. From 2016, DST has initiated National Initiative of Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) programme to nurture ideas to prototype with financial support of upto Rs 10 lakhs and a monthly fellowship upto Rs 30,000 to potential entrepreneurs. These programs have supported nearly 3600 entrepreneurs and has generated 60,000 jobs in last five years.

• DBT through its Public Sector Enterprise Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has initiated several schemes related to Funding, Incubation support and Capacity Building for the encouragement of the Science and Technology entrepreneurship in the country.More than 200 start-ups, young entrepreneurs, small industries and 50 Bio-Incubators were supported through BIRAC. These programmes help in generation of employment opportunities, and self-employment among youth in this field thus leading to the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

• State/UT-wise, details including financial assistance for the last 3 years (2017-20), by the Government under these schemes/programmes are given in Annexure II.

(c) & (d) Government of India has not framed any policy specifically to encourage youth in the field of Science and Technology. However, Ministry has been formulating policies related to Science and Technology. The Science and Technology Policy 2003 and Science Technology, Innovation Policy 2013, emphasized upon attraction of talented youth in country to S&T careers in R&D. As an outcome of S&T policy, INSPIRE programme is being implemented successfully across the country to nurture students towards career in science and R&D. It has provision for exposure through science camps upto 50,000 students per year under INSPIRE- Internship, support 12,000 students per year under INSPIRE-Scholarship, 1000students/year under INSPIRE Fellowship and encourage 100 young researchers under INSPIRE-Faculty fellowship.

 Annexure I

Details of noteworthy schemes and programmes under Ministry of Science and Technology

Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST): The FIST program was initiated to facilitate support towards augmenting higher education and research largely at the different Departments of Universities/ Institutes and related academic organizations by augmenting basic infrastructural facilities including Equipment, Networking & Computational facilities, Infrastructure and Maintenance for conducting research in basic or applied science areas. The scheme is currently operating through four-level support and each level depicts a different quantum of support that is provided depending upon the type of organization as well as its existing R&D profile and future research vision. The program provides support in all areas of S&T and Post Graduate Colleges. The selection of the Departments/ PG Colleges is through a peer review mechanism and visit to the Department, if necessary. This scheme has so far supported 2912 S&T departments spread over 625 Academic Institutions and PG colleges (Level 0-480, Level 1-2175, Level 2-256 and Level 3-01) for strengthening the teaching and research infrastructure with a total investment of about Rs 2948 crores. Numerous State- of-the-art research facilities have been established across different R&D organizations throughout the Nation. During the last three years, more than 60,000 researchers (including faculty/ research Scholars/ PG students) have benefited in achieving around 5500 publications.

Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE): This program is an on-going scheme exclusively for the University Sector being implemented by DST since 2009. This program isa pro- active initiative of DST, which has facilitated in broadening as well as creating excellence in the R&D base around the performing Universities in India. Since the initiation of the program, DST announces quantum of funds to University based on Study Commissioned by DST for assessing the performance of Universities in the country with respect to their 10 years aggregate Research performance in terms of h-index & Publications through SCOPUS Database. So far, based on 4 different studies, 50 performing universities having h-index ranging from 70 to 26, have been supported/identified ranging from Rs 30.0 Crores to Rs 6.0 Crores for 4 year periods. Under PURSE program large investments have been made to encourage, nourish and sustain research performance of the leading universities. The grant released in the scheme is for augmentation of research infrastructure at the University level.

Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIF): Sophisticated analytical instruments are vital for pursuing research in many areas of science and technology. Broad objectives of this program are:-

• to provide facilities of sophisticated analytical instruments to Scientists, various academic institutes, R&D laboratories and industries;
• to acquire and develop capability for preventive maintenance and repair of sophisticated instruments;
• to generate skilled work-force for handling, repair and maintenance of high-end equipment as well as interpretation of data and
• to disseminate information about SAIF, its activities and different instruments through short term courses/workshops periodically. The SAIF program is being implemented to provide the facilities of sophisticated analytical instruments to the research workers in general and especially from the institutions which do not have such instruments to enable them to pursue R&D activities requiring such facilities and keep pace with development taking place globally. Currently, 15 SAIFs are functioning at various academic/R&D institutions in the country. The achievements of the SAIFs include publication of about 2,500 research papers per year. About 20,000 research workers from all over the country utilized and benefited from the facilities provided by the SAIFs during the year. These included research workers from almost all the universities in the country. About 90% of the users are from academic sector. About 1, 35,000 samples were analyzed at the facilities during the year.

Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institute (SATHI): This program envisaged to have facilities for fabrication work, rapid prototyping, material testing, characterization, new device fabrication, smart manufacturing, accreditations and characterization facilities etc., to attract and help R&D labs, industrial R&D, MSME, Incubators and Start-ups, etc. This effort is expected to reach-out to much needed less endowed organizations like MSMEs, Start-ups, State Universities and Colleges fostering a strong culture of research collaboration between institutions and across disciplines to take advantage of developments, innovations and expertise in diverse areas. It helps to eliminate duplication of expensive equipment. Each SATHI shall ensure that Facilities are available at least 80% of the operational hours (to the External Users and remaining 20% of the time would be made available for Internal Users.

The aims of this scheme are:

(a) Procurement and maintenance of high-end equipment and infrastructure facility necessary for research/ testing/ manufacturing/ fabrication. To provide service by understanding the demands of researchers, scientists, students, start-ups, manufacturing units, industries and R&D Labs;

(b) Providing access and sharing of scientific equipment and infrastructure;

(c) Capacity Building of operators and technicians for efficient operations and interpretations of results/ outcome and

(d) Monitoring usage of expensive scientific research infrastructure for maximum utilization of Infrastructure Management with efficient operations and to be a part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (Self Reliant India Campaign). As SATHI Scheme has been launched only in the latter half of 2019, the equipment and other facilities are still being established.

Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)

Government is implementing INSPIRE to attract, motivate, nurture and train talented and meritorious students to study science subjects and opt for careers in Research and Development (R&D) to build a pipeline of quality manpower, thereby widening the R&D manpower base of the country.

• INSPIRE-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge), is targeted to attract young school students in the age group of 10-15 years to pursue science and career in research through creative and innovative thinking. The nominations are received from schools across the country through online portal E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme (E-MIAS). One lakh shortlisted ideas receive an initial award of Rs. 10000 /- each, through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to prepare project/model/showcasing of idea. Top 60 innovations are selected through National Level Exhibition for further support.

• INSPIRE Internship provides exposure to top 1% students of Class X Board examination pursuing science in XI Standard through Science Camps organized during summer or winter. These camps offer an opportunity to 50,000 students to interact with Science icons from India and abroad, including Nobel Laureates.

• The Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) component of INSPIRE encourages meritorious students within top 1% cut-off marks at the Class XII Board (State or Central) examinations or in selected national level competitive examinations like IIT-JEE, etc. to study basic and natural sciences in B.Sc. and M.Sc.. The scheme offers 12,000 (10,000 Direct Mode + 2000 Institutional Mode) scholarships/year to meritorious students in the age group 17-22 years @ Rs 0.80 lakh per year.

• The INSPIRE Fellowship under INSPIRE Scheme offer 1000 Fellowships/year to bright students in the age group of 22-27 years to pursue Ph.D. in Basic and Applied Sciences including Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. Fellowship is offered to (i) students who secure 1st Rank and 70% marks in University-level PG examinations in India or 1st Rank Holders in Graduate/Post- graduate level examination in Medicine conducted by a university/ institution in India; or ii) INSPIRE- SHE Scholars who secure minimum 70% marks (or CGPA equivalent) in aggregate in their M.Sc. or Integrated M.S./M.Sc. level examinations, eligible for admission to a Ph.D. Programme in any recognized university/academic institution of the country. The Fellowship is provided for a maximum of 5 years (2 years as JRF and 3 years as SRF) to pursue a full-time Ph.D. programme. For the first two years, INSPIRE Fellows are granted fellowship amount of Rs.31,000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20,000/year. After evaluation of two years’ research work, an INSPIRE Fellow can be promoted as a Senior Research Fellow (SRF) and paid fellowship amount of Rs.35000/pm + HRA + Contingency grant of Rs.20,000/year.

• The INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship under INSPIRE provides 100 fellowships every year to young achievers with Ph.D. qualification in the age group of 27-32 years for independent research for 5 years to carry out post-doctoral research in both Basic and Applied Sciences including Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. A fellowship of Rs. 1,25,000/- p.m. with annual increment of Rs.2000/year and a research grant of Rs.7 lakh per annum is given to the selected candidate.

The scheme has its presence in most of the States/UTs including Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. It has been able to engage 13,34,422 students under MANAK programme; 67,880 students under INSPIRE Internship; 35,082 students under INSPIRE Scholarship; 2371 students under INSPIRE Fellowship and 403 young researchers under INSPIRE Faculty programme in last three years including this year.

Technology Mission Initiative

Department of Science and Technology (DST) is promoting research, development and innovation in the field of clean energy and water through its Technology Mission Initiatives in all states of the country including Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand. Currently, newer areas such as Smart Grids, Offgrids, Building Energy Efficiency, Alternate Fuels, Clean Coal Technologies, Clean Energy Materials, Renewable & Clean Hydrogen are being supported.

State Science and Technology Programme (SSTP)

Government of India, established State Councils for Science & Technology to attain developmental goals of the states and the country using Science and Technology (S&T). The Ministry of Science and Technology, started providing budgetary support for Scientific and Technical Secretariat at State S&T Councils during Ninth Five Year Plan (1997–2002) to accelerate S&T activities for overall socio–economic development at the State level under State Science and Technology Programme (SSTP). Currently, 28 State S&T Councils/UTs are being supported under this programme including Bihar Council on Science and Technology (BCST), Jammu & Kashmir State Science, Technology & Innovation Council (JKSTTIC) and Jharkhand Council on Science and Technology (JCST). The initiatives undertaken by State S&T Councils under SSTP are broadly Science & Technology Innovation Initiatives, S&T Application and Science Popularization Programmes.

Under Science and Society Programme (SSP), Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) and Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP), development and promotion of S&T is being undertaken for the benefit of people at grassroots through various field-based, action-oriented projects. These programs integrate S&T primarily to enhance livelihood opportunities and quality- of-life of different cross section of the society, through adaptive research, capacity building and skill development at local level. The broad areas of support include Agriculture (including horticulture, aquaculture, fisheries, livestock and other allied activities), Resource Management, Microenterprise Development, Art & Craft, Post-Harvest Technologies, Health, Nutrition, and Engineering.

DST is also nurturing young researchers to use new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics etc. under the Scheme for Young Scientists and Technologists (SYST) to address the challenges pertaining to society through adaptive R&D. These young researchers were able to develop several technology packages of interventions to address the challenges and needs of various cross-sections of the society. Some of the notable interventions are dyes, fixtures and manually operated equipment’s for bamboo artisans, region specific, economically effective, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package for the management of red spider for tea farmers, communication package on sex selection drugs, Eco-friendly package on Phalaenopsis orchid for cultivation in tropical hills etc.

Several Coordinated Network Programmes aimed at holistic development of socially disadvantaged section of the communities through application of S&T interventions are also undertaken under Science and Society initiative of DST.

Women Scientists Scheme

In order to address the challenges faced by women scientists after a break in career, necessitated by marriage, childbirth and other familial responsibilities, DST is supporting a Fellowship scheme for Women in Science. The scheme encourages women to undertake research projects in various S&T streams comprising of Physical

& Mathematical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Engineering& Technology and also projects having societal relevance. The scheme has successfully provided opportunity to over 5000 women, who had a substantial break in career after obtaining at least a Masters’ degree in any of the above mentioned streams to conduct R&D and enhance their research skills and expertise. Under this program, more than 30% of these women were able to get permanent positions in various S&T institutions; over 45% were awarded Ph.D. degrees during the project tenure.

Technology Development Programmes (TDP)

Department of Science and Technology has been implementing Technology Development Programmes (TDP) to facilitate conversion of proof-of-concepts for technologies/ techniques/ processes/products into advance prototypes for validation and demonstration in field settings. Investigators are encouraged to involve industry while working on technology development projects.

National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) encourages child scientists across the country in the age group of 10-17 years to identify some societal problems and motivate them to present possible solution and its analysis through working models and prototypes. NCSC covers almost all the districts of the country with a participation of over 500,000 students. Through a process of evaluation, best of promising ideas and projects are shortlisted for presentation at State level in all the States including Bihar, Jharkhand and J&K Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) India activities comprise of Science fairs, melas, expositions, mobile science exhibitions, lecture-demonstrations, interactive media, visits to S&T establishments like labs and industry, hands-on-STEMM activities, and so on. These events, whether stationary or mobile, including mobile science exhibitions, serve to utilize the expertise of resource persons trained/being trained by NCSTC in various aspects of the concerned activities. More than 34 static and mobile exhibitions were organized in different parts of the country including Bihar, J&K and Jharkhand Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) under DST is a premier national research funding agency working to raise the quality and footprint of Indian science and engineering to the highest global levels in an accelerated mode, through calibrated support for research and development. SERB is implementing following schemes in all the States/UTs for promotion of S&T:

• Core Research Grant (CRG): The CRG scheme provides research support to an individual researcher or a group of researchers working in a recognized academic institution or national laboratory or in other recognized R & D institution in India.

• Start-up Research Grant (SRG): The SRG scheme aims to assist researchers to initiate their research career in a new institution for two years. Research grant of Rs. 30 lakh plus overheads for a period of two years is provided under SRG.

• Empowerment and Equity Opportunities for Excellence in Science: The Scheme ensures enhanced participation of weaker sections of the society in research and development. Under this scheme funding is provided up to a maximum of Rs. 50.0 lakh (excluding overhead charges) for a maximum period of three years.

• Intensification of Research in High Priority Areas (IRHPA): The IRHPA program supports proposals in high priority areas where multidisciplinary/ multi-institutional expertise is required to bring India at international science map.

• Mathematical Research Impact Centric Support (MATRICS): MATRICS provide fixed grant support in the area of Mathematical Sciences as it is overlooked field with few researchers. The Scheme provides research grant of Rs. 2 lakh p.a. for a period of three years.

• National Post-Doctoral Fellowship: The SERB-National Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) motivates young researchers through grant-in aid for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. The selected fellows work under a mentor, and are provided fellowship for a period of 2 years.

• SERB Women Excellence Award: In order to bring gender parity and acknowledge the efforts of women researchers in R&D, SERB Women Excellence Award is presented to women scientists below 40 years of age and who have received recognition from any one of the National Academies.These women researchers are supported with a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh per annum for a period of 3 years.

Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme

The Scheme aims to tap the expertise of Overseas Faculty / scientists including Non- resident Indians (NRIs) & Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) for collaborative research in frontier areas of S&T including interdisciplinary areas of national priorities such as energy, water, environment, health, security, nutrition, waste processing, advanced materials, high performance computing, cyber-physical systems, smart machines and manufacturing, etc. This collaboration would stimulate the latent potential of our academic and research sector as the VAJRA faculty would be physically available for 1- 3 months in Indian institutions and co-guide Ph.D. students in India thus strengthening the ecosystem of Indian S&T through experience and knowledge sharing.

 Annexure II

Financial assistance provided by the Government of India for the last 3 years (2017-20)