Lok Sabha Question No. 644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-06
Subject: Shortcomings in Education Sector
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Ravi Kishan Shukla, Ravindra Kushawaha

## 644.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 644 ANSWERED ON 06.02.2023

## SHORTCOMINGS IN EDUCATION SECTOR

## SHRI RAVI KISHAN: SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has made any assessment in regard to the shortcomings in the education sector;
- (b)  if  so,  any  announcement has been made to provide special funds for doing research and quality improvement in education;
- (c) the names of the States which have provided figures relating to research and quality improvement in the education sector during the last three years;
- (d) whether funds are being allocated to the States which are lagging behind in research; and
- (e) if so, the details of funds allocated for the above purpose, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Dr. SUBHAS SARKAR)

(a):  As  per  the  information  received  from  the  University  Grants  Commission  (UGC),  an  expert committee constituted in 2019 to promote and improve the quality of research in Indian universities/colleges observed that the overall quality of university and college level research in India needs improvement.

(b) to (e): Education being in the Concurrent List, enhancing the quality of education and research is the responsibility of both the Central and State Governments. UGC has approved Quality Mandate on 24.05.2018. It comprises 5 objectives and 10 verticals, to improve the quality of higher education in the country. The 10 verticals are: (i) Induction programme for students; (ii) Learning outcome-based curriculum framework revision of curriculum in regular intervals; (iii) Use ICT based learning tools for effective teaching-learning process; (iv) Soft skills for students; (v) Social and Industry connect for every institution: Every institution shall adopt at least 5 villages for exchange of knowledge and for the overall  social/economic  betterment  of  the  village  communities;  (vi)  Examination  Reforms  -  test  the concept, and application; exit examinations; (vii) Tracking of the student progress after completion of course; (viii) Induction training for all new teachers, and annual refresher training for all teachers - role of  the  National  Resource  Centres  (NRCs);  and  mandatory  leadership/management  training  for  all educational administrators (ix) Promoting quality research by faculty and creation of new knowledge; (x) Mentoring of non-accredited institutions. Detail of the grants released by the UGC to Universities & Colleges under various schemes relating to Research Projects and Fellowships / Scholarships for the last three years is as under:

| Year    |   Amount Released (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------|----------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                          1214.78 |
| 2020-21 |                          1229.63 |
| 2021-22 |                          1186.65 |

Furthermore,  recognizing  the  need  for  central  assistance,  the  Central  Government  has  implemented various schemes for supporting State Governments as given hereunder: -

Research  Parks: Complementing  the  renewed  focus  of  the  Government  on  developing  indigenous R&D capabilities,  boosting  manufacturing  and  creating  a  successful  start-up  culture  in  the  country, Research Parks are being established at various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)/Indian Institute of Science (IISc). A full-fledged Research Park is already functioning in IIT Madras. Research Park at IIT-Kharagpur  was  inaugurated  in  Aug  2019.  A  Research  Park  at  IIT  Gandhinagar  is  funded  by Department  of  Science  &  Technology  (DST).  Research  Park  at  IIT  Delhi  was  inaugurated  on 30.09.2022. The amount released during the last three years is as under:-

| Year    |   Amount Released (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------|----------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                            43.87 |
| 2020-21 |                           167.5  |
| 2021-22 |                            30    |

IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India Initiative: IMPRINT-II was formulated in 2018 by merging the schemes IMPRINT-I (implemented up to Mar'22) and Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY).  The projects under IMPRINT-II are funded jointly by MoE and DST in the ratio of 50:50 by creating a joint corpus.  Other participating Ministries/ Industries may volunteer to fund the projects relevant to them. Details of the projects approved and cost thereof are as under:-

| Phases          |   Project |   Cost (Rs. in Crore) |
|-----------------|-----------|-----------------------|
| IMPRINT-II(A+B) |       125 |                104.58 |
| IMPRINT-II-C    |        51 |                 41.18 |
| IMPRINT-II-C-II |         8 |                 17.66 |
| TOTAL           |       184 |                163.42 |

Prime Minister's Research Fellows: In  order  to  attract  best  talent  for  undertaking  research  in  the frontier areas of science & technology, preferably those addressing the national requirements, talented students from all recognized Universities/Institutes are selected as per PMRF guidelines to enroll in the Ph.D program in  IITs/IISc/Indian  Institute  of  Science  Education  and  Research  (IISERs)  &  selected Central Universities (CUs)/National Institute of Technology (NITs) (in NIRF top 25) and incentivized by providing attractive rates of fellowship @ Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/per month for the 3 rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4 th and 5 th years. In addition, a research grant  of  Rs.2.00  lakh  per  year  for  a  period  of  5  years  are  given  to  each  fellow  to  meet  the  cost  of presenting research papers. As on date, 2560 out of a maximum of 3000 fellows have been admitted under the scheme. The amount released during the last three years is as under:-

| Year    |   Amount Released (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------|----------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                            28.27 |
| 2020-21 |                            63.59 |
| 2021-22 |                           155.1  |

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): RUSA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at funding selected State government universities and colleges, so as to improve the overall quality of existing  higher  education  scenario  in  States/UTs.  The  State-wise  details  of  approvals  under  various components including for research is available at https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/upload\_document/Funds\_under\_RUSA.pdf

Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC): It  is  an  initiative  of Ministry  of  Education  with  an  allocation  of  Rs.  418  Crore  spread  to  promote  joint  research  and collaboration. The scheme became functional with effect from 28th October 2018. It aims at improving the research ecosystem of India's Higher Education Institutions by supporting joint research proposals and facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best foreign institutions  from  28  selected  nations  (USA,  UK,  Germany,  Australia,  Austria,  Denmark,  France, Canada, Italy,  China  &  Hong  Kong,  Japan,  Singapore,  Russia, Israel, Switzerland,  Sweden, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Norway, Portugal, Austria, Taiwan, Belgium, Spain, Brazil, and  Finland).  The  scheme  envisages  that  culmination  of  joint  research  proposals  would  lead  the direction  of  solving  problems  of  national  and/or  international  relevance.  There  is  a  set  of  6  Thrust Areas  and  Sub-Themes  (Fundamental  Research,  Emergent  Areas  of  Impact,  Convergence,  ActionOriented Research, Innovation-Driven, and Humanities & Social Studies) with the 6 Lead Institutions from India (IIT Kanpur, ISI Kolkata, IIT Delhi, BHU, IIT Madras and IIT Indore). The role of Thrust Areas Leads is to review and shortlist the potential joint-proposals submitted under SPARC scheme. Details of proposals approved and funds released are as follows: -

|   No. of proposals approved in 2018-19 in Phase-I |   No. of proposals under evaluation in Phase-II |   Amount released (Rs. In crore) |
|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|                                               394 |                                            1222 |                              110 |

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