Lok Sabha Question No. 979 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-07
Subject: KIRAN Scheme
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Manoj Rajoria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNSTARRED QUESTION No.979 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07/02/2020

## KIRAN SCHEME

## †979.   DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

## Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY वान और ौयोगक मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the activities or programmes included in the Knowledge, Involvement, Research, Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN) Scheme to impart training to women to encourage them in the field of science, year-wise;
- (b) the amount spent under the scheme till now; and
- (c) the number of women who have benefited so far, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

वाय और परवार कयाण मंी ; वान और ौयोगक मंी ; और पृ वी वान मंी ( डॉ . हष वधन )

- (a) Department of Science and Technology (DST) restructured women specific programmes and started  a  new  scheme  'Knowledge  Involvement  in  Research  Advancement  through  Nurturing (KIRAN)' in 2014-15 to provide various career opportunities to women scientists and technologists. 'Women Scientist Scheme (WOS)' under KIRAN is a flagship programme of DST that provides career opportunities including fellowships to unemployed women scientists and technologists, especially those who had a break in career, for pursuing research in frontier areas of science and engineering. There are  three  major  components  of  Women  Scientist  Scheme  namely,  i)  Women  Scientists  Scheme-A (WOS-A) for conducting research in basic & applied sciences, ii) Women Scientists Scheme-B (WOSB) for projects that entail science & technology (S&T) interventions for societal benefit and iii) Women Scientists  Scheme-C  (WOS-C)  that  enables  them  to  become  Intellectual  Property  Rights  (IPR) professionals. In addition to WOS, under 'Consolidation of University Research through Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE) Programme' the 'women only' Universities are being supported  for  development  of  research  infrastructure  and  creation  of  state-of-the-art  research laboratories to enhance women's participation in Research & Development (R&D) activities in S&T domain. In 2016-17, 'Mobility' component has been introduced under KIRAN to address relocation issues of working Women Scientists. In 2017-18, a new program 'Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM' (Science, Technology, Engineering,  Mathematics  &  Medicine)  to  provide  opportunities  to Indian women scientists, engineers & technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in USA for duration of 3-6 months, has been started.  Further, women scientists &  technologists  are  also  encouraged  to  avail  capacity  building  programmes  pertaining  to  R&D, entrepreneurship,  managerial  skills  and  leadership  under  'National  Programme  for  Training  of Women Scientists & Technologists  working  in  Government  Sector'.  In2019-20,  the  Department  has started  Phase-I  of  a  new  scheme  'Vigyan  Jyoti'  in  50  districts  of  the  country  for  girl  students  of

Classes 9 to 12 in order to increase the number of women in STEM education particularly in the areas where women are under-represented.

- (b) An amount of Rs. 381.45 Crore has been spent under KIRAN since its inception in 2014-15.
- (c) The State-wise number of women scientists who have benefitted under different programmes of KIRAN during last three years is as follows:

*Till 31 st January 2020

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs        |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20* |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| 1.        | Arunachal Pradesh |         1 |         0 |          0 |
| 2.        | Andhra Pradesh    |         9 |        12 |         13 |
| 3.        | Assam             |         4 |        11 |          6 |
| 4.        | Bihar             |         2 |         7 |          3 |
| 5.        | Chandigarh        |         3 |         6 |          8 |
| 6.        | Chhattisgarh      |         0 |         4 |          5 |
| 7.        | Delhi             |        47 |        59 |         41 |
| 8.        | Goa               |         1 |         2 |          1 |
| 9.        | Gujarat           |         7 |        11 |         14 |
| 10.       | Himachal Pradesh  |         3 |        11 |          2 |
| 11.       | Haryana           |        13 |        13 |          8 |
| 12.       | Jammu &Kashmir    |         2 |         3 |         12 |
| 13.       | Jharkhand         |         4 |         2 |          7 |
| 14.       | Karnataka         |        35 |        37 |         27 |
| 15.       | Kerala            |        31 |        27 |         21 |
| 16.       | Maharashtra       |        54 |        66 |         40 |
| 17.       | Manipur           |         6 |         3 |          2 |
| 18.       | Meghalaya         |         1 |         1 |          1 |
| 19.       | Mizoram           |         0 |         1 |          0 |
| 20.       | Madhya Pradesh    |        13 |        14 |          9 |
| 21.       | Nagaland          |         0 |         1 |          2 |
| 22.       | Odisha            |        16 |        15 |          7 |
| 23.       | Pondicherry       |         3 |         1 |          2 |
| 24.       | Punjab            |        19 |        21 |         12 |
| 25.       | Rajasthan         |        11 |        11 |          9 |
| 26.       | Sikkim            |         1 |         0 |          0 |
| 27.       | Telangana         |        32 |        31 |         12 |
| 28.       | Tamil Nadu        |        41 |        56 |         46 |
| 29.       | Uttar Pradesh     |        56 |        53 |         44 |
| 30.       | Uttarakhand       |        16 |        14 |          8 |
| 31.       | West Bengal       |        35 |        37 |         30 |
| 32.       | Tripura           |         2 |         0 |          1 |
|           | TOTAL             |       468 |       530 |        393 |

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