Lok Sabha Question No. 3360 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Ecosystem towards Innovation
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Manne Srinivas Reddy, Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3360 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2022

## ECOSYSTEM TOWARDS INNOVATION

3360. SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY: SHRI KOMATI REDDY VENKAT REDDY:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ǒव£ान और Ĥौƭोिगकȧ मंğी pleased to state:

be

- (a)  whether  youngsters  need  an  ecosystem  to  take  the  first  step  towards innovation  in  science  and  technology  and  develop  skills  for  problem-based learning;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken; and
- (c)  the  details  of  steps  being  taken  to  encourage  the  students  to  develop  an interest in innovation as early as the second grade and come up with solutions for problems affecting the society and the steps being taken to shift to problemsolving learning and foster innovation in youngsters/along with results yielded till date and if not, the time by which such steps will be taken?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

ǒव£ान और Ĥौƭोिगकȧ तथा पृØवी ǒव£ान मंğालय क े राÏय मंğी ( èवतंğ Ĥभार) ( डॉ. ǔजतɅġ िसंह )

- (a)  & (b):     Yes Sir.  Creating an ecosystem to foster innovation in science & technology  has  been  a  part  of  Government's  Science  and  Technology  (S&T) policy. The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy of 2013 encourages students/youth  of  the  country  towards  the  field  of  science  &  technology  and innovation.  The  key  elements  of  STI  Policy  include  promoting  the  spread  of scientific temper amongst all sections of society, enhancing skill for application of science among the youth from all social strata, making careers in science, research and innovation attractive enough for talented and bright minds.
- (c): Government  has  been  implementing  several  schemes  to  encourage students/ youth of the country towards the field of science and technology. The 'Innovation  in  Science  Pursuit  for  Inspired  Research  (INSPIRE)'  is  a  major scheme to attract, motivate, nurture and train talented and meritorious students

to study science subjects, inculcate scientific temperament 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. Close to 52,000 young students of class 6th - 10th receive the INSPIRE Award MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting  National  Aspiration  and  Knowledge)  per  year  from  recognized schools  across  the  country.  About  20,000  students  per  year  attend  INSPIRE Internship Camps to experience the joys of creative pursuit of science.

The vision of Atal Tinkering Lab initiative is to 'Cultivate 1 Million children in India as  Neoteric  Innovators'.  The  objective  of  this  scheme  is  to  foster  curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds and inculcate skills such as design mind-set, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing, rapid calculations, measurements etc. These ATLs are equipped with latest emerging technologies such as electronics, IoT, 3D printing, Robotics, etc. Around 9600 ATLs have been setup in various schools of the country.

Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  promote  affordable  and  sustainable innovations in the field of science and technology. DST has launched National Initiative  for  Developing  and  Harnessing  Innovations'  (NIDHI)  programme  to strengthen the innovation value chain through Technology Business Incubators (TBIs). NIDHI provides much-needed support to innovators and entrepreneurs at different  stages  of  their  journey  to  take  their  innovative  ideas  to  market  and further scale up its operations. NIDHI-PRAYAS Shala specially assists innovators in their ''idea to prototype journey'' through grant funding of up to Rs. 10 lakh. Forty three PRAYAS Centres have been setup in various academic institutions to support innovators and entrepreneurs to test their ideas and make prototypes which is further developed as products and a startup.

The  DST-NIDHI  program  aims  to  provide  state-of-the  art  infrastructure  for nurturing startups along  with  mentoring  and  funding  support  during  preincubation, incubation and post incubation periods through startups incubators. These incubators support startups in various technology domains like agritech, manufacturing, electronics, IoT, health-tech, biotech, AI/ML, deep-tech etc.

For  promoting  affordable  sustainable  innovation  in  the  field  of  science  and technology, the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous institution under DST organizes a biennial National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards and for it, common people (including youth) share their ideas and innovations. NIF provides value-addition and incubation support to the innovators so that their technologies can reach the market. NIF has also set up NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council (NIFientreC), a Technology Business Incubator, for setting up and incubating commercial ventures based on innovative technologies of common people of the country.

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