Lok Sabha Question No. 254 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-12
Subject: Development of S&T to Support Weaker Sections
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Hemant Tukaram Godse

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

## STARRED QUESTION No.254 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12/3/2021

## DEVELOPMENT OF S&T TO SUPPORT WEAKER SECTIONS

- *254.       SHRI HEMANT TUKARAM GODSE:

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

- (a)    whether the Government aims to promote Science and Technology (S&T) with emphasis on emerging areas and their application for the development and support to the weaker sections of the society and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)    whether there is a policy in place for development of S&T in the country with adequate infrastructure and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)      the  road  map  drawn  for  the  promotion  of  S&T  along  with  the  thrust  areas identified for its time-bound development?

## 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) to (c):    A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  AS  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 254 FOR 12/03/2021 REGARDING 'DEVELOPMENT OF S&T TO SUPPORT WEAKER SECTIONS'.

- (a) Yes Sir, the Government is already promoting Science and Technology (S&T) with emphasis on emerging areas and their application for the development and support to the  weaker  sections  of  the  society  through  various  Schemes  and  Programmes implemented by different Ministries and Departments as detailed below:

## Department of Science and Technology:

- i. Innovation  Technology  Development  and  Deployment:  This  Scheme  Promotes research,  development,  transfer,  dissemination  and  adoption  of  emerging technologies to solve the problems of economically weaker Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, especially in rural areas. Some of the initiatives under the Scheme are given below
2. o 15 projects supported under the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan and Tribal Sub Plan having  interventions  on  emerging  areas  of  Science  and  Technology  like Artificial  Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) etc. for better management of irrigation facilities, prediction and detection of pests/crop diseases, increased productivity etc.
3. o 10 Science Technology and Innovations Hubs were established for developing emerging and efficient technologies for improvement of livelihood system and social enterprise development
4. o Machine  Learning  Techniques  and  Internet  of  Things  are  also  being  used extensively in the 15 projects supported for development of assistive technologies, tools and techniques for the benefit of persons with disabilities and  elderly  population.  Monitoring  of  health  parameters,  prediction  of  falls, development of several software and applications is being done using AI, ML, IoT etc. under 5 projects supported under the  programme  Technology Interventions for Disabled and Elderly (TIDE). 3D Printing and Nano Technology is  being  extensively  used  in  3  projects  under  TIDE  for  development  of prosthetics /artificial limbs
5. o A programme was initiated in 2018-2019 to train 34,50,000 ST students in 115 aspirational districts of India in advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence,  Sensors,  Data  Science,  Computer  Networks,  Cyber  Security  and Block  Chain  Technologies.  Training  on  Inter  Cyber  Physical  System  (ICPS) technology is being imparted at School level (class 6 to 8) in 11,500 schools covering 115 aspirational districts across the country.
- ii. Science  and  Technology  Institutional  and  Human  Capacity  Building:  The objective  is  augmentation  of  S&T  human  resources  by  creating  a  pool  of talented  students  in  Sciences  for  future  research  activities  in  the  country through various fellowships and creation of sophisticated R&D infrastructure in knowledge institutions for enhancing research capabilities in emerging technologies.
7. o 1000  fellowships  were  provided  to  women  students  with  a  break  in  career under DISHA Programme for Women in Science

- o 32,310  students  from  SC/ST  Category  at  School  Level,  Under  Graduate  Post Graduate and Ph. D Level were offered research fellowships under Innovation of  Science  Pursuit  for  Inspire  Research  (INSPIRE)  Programme  to  work  in emerging areas of S&T.
- o Around 40 Women Technology Parks were fully functional for building capacity of women in emerging areas of S&T for livelihood system improvement.
- iii. Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB): The Empowerment and Equity Opportunities for Excellence in Science (EMEQ) scheme implemented by SERB is  aimed  at  providing  research  support  to  researchers  belonging  to  the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe in undertaking research in frontier areas of science and engineering.
- o During  the  last  5  years  more  than  500  research  projects  were  awarded  to faculty belonging to SC and ST Communities

Department of Biotechnology: To facilitate biotech-based development in the North Eastern Region (NER) of India through conceptualization, implementation, mentoring and monitoring of biotechnology  intervened programs for holistic development, the Department has earmarked 10% of its annual budget every year for promoting and strengthening  biotechnology  related  activities  in  the  region.  These  region-specific programmes focus on developing local capacities to address regional challenges and harness  endemic  bioresources  for  economic  development  of  the  region  through frontier research in the area of Biotechnology.

- o To  effectively  manage  the  programme,  NER  Biotechnology  Management  Cell (NER  BPMC)  has  been  set  up  by  DBT-Institute  of  Life  Sciences  (DBT-ILS), Bhubaneswar.
- o About  670  Twinning  projects  have  been  supported  since  inception  of  the scheme in  2010,  addressing  issues  in  emerging  areas  of  Biotechnology  with specific relevance to developmental needs of the region.
- o Nearly 250 research papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
- o More  than  2000  young  researchers/students  of  NER  have  been  trained  in advanced biotechnology. These projects have been supported in 70 Institutes across NER.
- o During  the  last  three  years,  several  projects  were  supported  which  had benefitted  3000  women  in  projects  on  emerging  technologies  for  livelihood development.

Council for Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR):  CSIR  through  its constituent laboratories  is  actively  working  to  promote  advanced  Scientific  &  Technological interventions for the development and support to the weaker sections of the society. Some of the significant initiatives taken by CSIR for the benefit of people especially from weaker section are given below

- o CSIR  Aroma  Mission  for  Catalysing  Rural  Empowerment  through  Cultivation, Processing, Value Addition and Marketing of Aromatic Plants.
- o CSIR Floriculture Mission for Enhancing farmers' income and entrepreneurship development through high value floriculture utilizing CSIR technologies.
- o CSIR proposal on Gaon Ka Pani Gaon Me - Har Ghar Ko Nal Se Saph Jal under Jal Jeevan Mission of Ministry of Jal Shakti aims at customized development and deployment of innovative technologies for drinking water and wastewater treatment  in  rural  India  to  fulfill  the  objectives  of  Jal  Jeevan  Mission  of

providing safe water supply to households and safely manage water/wastewater.

grey

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR): To support resource poor small and marginal farmers of the country, ICAR is conducting research in farmers' participatory  mode  for  developing  location  specific,  cost  effective,  eco-friendly, socially  acceptable  scientific  farming  practices.  Low-cost  technologies  are  being developed and promoted for the farming community including weaker sections.

- o The  important  thrust  areas  include  development  of  high  yielding,  disease, insect  pest  and  climate  resilient  crop  varieties  and  technologies,  soil  health management, agricultural water management, watershed management, enhancement of nutrient and water use efficiency, resource conservation, crop diversification, integrated weed management, conservation agriculture
- o Development of Integrated Farming System integrating dairy, goat and sheep farming,  piggery,  apiary,  fisheries,  agro-forestry  with  the  traditional  crop farming keeping in view the farmers' resource availability, traditional know-how and  grassroots  farm  innovations  coupled  with  emerging  innovations  and technologies.
- o Benefits  of  successful  research  are  being  popularized  among  the  farmers throughout the country through training and Front-Line Demonstrations (FLDs) through Krishi Vigyan Kendra's (KVKs) and Institute Extension System .

Indian Agricultural  Research Institute  (IARI):  To  address  the  issues  of  malnutrition among weaker sections, initiatives taken by IARI are given below

- o Classification of nine nutrition rich millets as 'Nutri-cereals' and help promote their consumption along with better returns to the farmers.
- o Development of Bio-fortified crops with improved nutrition is also being taken up  and  seventeen  such  crops  were  dedicated  to  nation  by  honorable  PM,  on world food day 2020.
- (b)     Yes Sir, the Government has brought out the Science, Technology & Innovation (STI)  Policy  2013  with  the  guiding  vision  of  aspiring  Indian  STI  enterprise  to accelerate  the  pace  of  discovery  and  delivery  of  science-led  solutions  for  faster, sustainable and inclusive growth. A plethora of programmes have been implemented by the Government to support and stimulate the S&T development in the country and there has been a notable rise in the S&T activities.
- (c)     The new challenges of today necessiate a different policy making approach and the  current  pandemic  has  catalyzed  the  need  for  a  new  policy  instrument  that amalgamated profound and incremental approaches. The  Government has initiated formulation of a new Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (STIP) and has come up with a draft policy document.  The draft policy aims to  prioritize and strategize across  the  Science  Technology  and  Innovation  (STI)  landscape  in  alignment  with United  Nations  -  Sustainable  Development  Goals  (UN-SDGs)  through  a  balance  of short-term mission-mode projects along with long-term ones. The draft Policy aims to emphasize  11 components viz. Open Science, Capacity Development, Financing STI Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Technology Development and Indigenisation, Equity and Inclusion, Science Communication and Public Engagement, International STI Engagement, STI Governance and STI Policy Governance for the promotion of S&T.

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