Lok Sabha Question No. 944 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-18
Subject: STI Policy
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Kotha Prabhakar  Reddy, Geetha Viswanath Vanga

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

UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 944 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18/09/2020

## STI POLICY

944.     SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY: SHRIMATI VANGA GEETHA VISWANATH:

## Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY वान और ौयोगक

- मंी be pleased to state:
- (a)          whether  the   Government   is   in   the   process   of  revisiting  the  Science, Technology and Innovation(STI) policy; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the progress made in   this   regard   along   with   the   funds   sanctioned/spent  and  encouragement being given to students during the last five years and results achieved therefrom including for the Covid-19 situation?

## 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)         Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  has  initiated  formulation  of  the  new  Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (STIP).
- (b)        The STIP revolves around the core principles of being decentralized, evidence informed,  bottom-up,  experts-driven,  and  inclusive.  The  policy  formulation  framework involves  4  inter-linked  tracks  of  activities  and  a  coordination  mechanism  through  a centralized secretariat that is coordinated, supported, and guided by Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India (office of PSA), NITI Aayog and Department of Science & Technology. So far, no fund has been allocated or sanctioned for the policy formulation process.

During last 5 years government has been encouraging students and youth of the country, and have launched several schemes to attract students and young researchers towards  Science,  Technology  and  Innovation.  To  encourage  young  students  to  think innovatively,  a  new  program  MANAK  (Million  Minds  Augmenting  National  Aspirations and Knowledge) has been launched in 2018 to target 10 lakh students every year from class  6  to  10.Under  Innovation  in  Science  Pursuit  for  Inspired  Research  (INSPIRE)' programme aims to attract the young talents towards pursuing their career in Science & Technology,  the  INSPIRE  Internship  has  supported  about  1,50,000  students,  the  top 1% students at Class X Board level through organizing 830 Science Camps during last five years to provide exposure to the joy of Scientific pursuits. The INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education has supported about 48,000 students over last five years (201418)  for  pursuing  higher  studies  in  basic  and  natural  Sciences.  National  Children's Science Congress (NCSC) programme covers both the school going children and out of school children, in the age group of 10 to 17 years. Each year the Children's Science Congress reaches out to about 200,000 children at the district level across the country over last five years. For COVID-19 situation, a Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3) was  initiated  by  National  Innovation  Foundation  (NIF),  an  autonomous  institution  of DST, inviting innovations in eight different areas which could help the country come out of the pandemic. More than 1700 submissions have been received in the competition, which  include students  and  the shortlisted innovations are being provided with mentoring  and  hand  holding  support.  Several  fellowship  schemes  such  as,  National Post Doctoral Fellowship; Early Career Research Award; Overseas Doctoral Fellowship, Overseas Post Doctoral  Fellowship  and Teacher Associates  for Research Excellence have been launched. These schemes have almost doubled the opportunities for young and  aspiring  researchers  for  carrying  out  R&D  in  their  chosen  areas  of  science  and engineering during last five years.  Another scheme called, Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) was launched to encourage young scientists to write popular science articles on their research pursuits. A pilot scheme VIGYAN JYOTI was tested  on  limited  scale  and  duration  to  attract  and  encourage  young  women  in  the underrepresented areas such as engineering, mathematics, etc. in the top institutions.

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