Lok Sabha Question No. 4242 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-13
Subject: Writing Skills
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 4242 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/12/2019

## WRITING SKILLS

## 4242. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

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

- (a) the  details  of  progress  made with  regard to  Augmenting  Writing  Skills  for  Articulating  Research (AWSAR) Initiative;
- (b) the total number of newspaper articles, magazines and blogs published under the same; and
- (c) the total number of scholars engaged therefor, State/UT-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) Augmenting  Writing  Skills  for  Articulating  Research  (AWSAR)  is  an  initiative  that  aims  to disseminate Indian research stories among the masses in a form that is easy to understand and interesting for  a  common  man.  Under  this  initiative,  PhD  Scholars  and  Post-Doctoral  Fellows  (PDFs)  in  Science &Technology (S&T) streams are encouraged to write at least one popular science article during the tenancy of  their  research,  and  to  participate  in  a  national  competition.  Best  100  entries  in  PhD  category  and  20 entries in PDF category are awarded prize of Rs. 10,000/- along with Certificate of Appreciation. Top three leading  stories  under  PhD  category  are  awarded  with  the  cash  prize  of  Rs.1,00,000/-,  Rs.50,000/-  and Rs.25,000/- respectively. One outstanding story under PDF category is awarded a prize of Rs.1,00,000/-.

The  programme  was  launched  on  24  January,  2018.  Since  then  a  dedicated  website  on  AWSAR (www.awsar-dst.in) has been launched that covers various aspects such as  timeline for submitting popular science story, eligibility, award categories, advertisements, sample research stories, details of workshops, etc. An encouraging response has been received from the scholars. Till March, 2019, AWSAR website visitor count was more than 2 lakhs. A total of 2,629 stories were received under 'Call for Entries 2018' in both PhD and  PDF  categories.  These  stories  were  evaluated  and  best  124  stories  were  selected  and  awarded  on National Science Day, held on 28 February, 2019.

- (b) Several  articles,  blogs,  facebook  posts,  social  media  posts  were  published  in  leading  newspapers, science magazines, brochures, flyers and social media platform, on AWSAR programme including those for its promotion. The details are given below:-
- (c) As  part  of  capacity-building,  four  workshops  were  conducted  in  2018  at  Dehradun,  Kolkata, Chennai,  and  Chandigarh  with  511  participants.  The  distribution  of  scholars  engaged  from  various States/UT during workshops is given as under: -

| AWSARon online blogs   |   12 |
|------------------------|------|
| Facebook post          |   27 |
| LinkedIn               |   28 |
| Twitter                |   29 |
| AWSARin Print Media    |    6 |

| State            |   Numbers of Participants |
|------------------|---------------------------|
| Uttar Pradesh    |                         5 |
| Delhi            |                         9 |
| West Bengal      |                       109 |
| Tamil Nadu       |                       101 |
| Uttarakhand      |                        99 |
| Odisha           |                         3 |
| Telangana        |                         4 |
| Chandigarh       |                       130 |
| Punjab           |                        33 |
| Andhra Pradesh   |                         2 |
| Karnataka        |                         2 |
| Maharashtra      |                         1 |
| Himachal Pradesh |                         2 |
| Haryana          |                         3 |
| Rajasthan        |                         6 |
| Jammu &Kashmir   |                         2 |

As many as 2,629 stories were received under PhD and PDF categories. The State wise distribution of stories received under AWSAR programme is given below:-

| S. No.   | State             | Stories received   | Stories received   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| S. No.   | State             | Doctoral           | Ph.D               |
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh    | 4                  | 63                 |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh | 1                  | 1                  |
| 3.       | Assam             | 16                 | 61                 |
| 4.       | Bihar             | 2                  | 12                 |
| 5.       | Chandigarh        | 8                  | 55                 |
| 6.       | Chattisgarh       | 0                  | 7                  |
| 7.       | Delhi             | 72                 | 190                |
| 8.       | Goa               | 2                  | 17                 |
| 9.       | Gujarat           | 8                  | 87                 |
| 10.      | Haryana           | 14                 | 40                 |
| 11.      | Himachal Pradesh  | 5                  | 26                 |
| 12.      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 5                  | 19                 |
| 13.      | Jharkhand         | 4                  | 26                 |
| 14.      | Karnataka         | 53                 | 225                |
| 15.      | Kerala            | 14                 | 52                 |
| 16.      | Madhya Pradesh    | 8                  | 56                 |
| 17.      | Maharashtra       | 47                 | 258                |
| 18.      | Manipur           | 1                  | 2                  |
| 19.      | Meghalaya         | 3                  | 4                  |
| 20.      | Mizoram           | 1                  | 3                  |
| 21.      | Odisha            | 15                 | 51                 |
| 22.      | Puducherry        | 2                  | 9                  |
| 23.      | Punjab            | 11                 | 75                 |
| 24.      | Rajasthan         | 6                  | 45                 |
| 25.      | Sikkim            | 0                  | 3                  |
| 26.      | Tamil Nadu        | 49                 | 290                |
| 27.      | Telangana         | 22                 | 74                 |
| 28.      | Tripura           | 1                  | 1                  |
| 29.      | Uttar Pradesh     | 42                 | 166                |
| 30.      | Uttarakhand       | 8                  | 85                 |
| 31.      | West Bengal       | 31                 | 171                |
| Total    | Total             | 455                | 2174               |

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