Lok Sabha Question No. 377 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-27
Subject: STARS Scheme
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Mahendra Singh Solanky

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 377 ANSWERED ON 27 TH  MARCH, 2023

## STARS Scheme

*377.  SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI: SHRI MAHENDRA SINGH SOLANKY:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  objectives  of  the  Scheme  for  Transformational  and  Advanced  Research  in Sciences (STARS) Scheme launched by the Government in the year 2020;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of this scheme;
- (c) whether the Government has data of number of schools, students and teachers covered under the said scheme in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether any schools from the district of Balasore in Odisha, Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, Pali in Rajasthan, Deoria, Gonda Bahraich, Jhansi and Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh are included under the scheme; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SH. DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 377 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2023 REGARDING 'STARS  SCHEME'  ASKED  BY  HON'BLE  MEMBERS  OF  PARLIAMENT  SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI AND SHRI MAHENDRA SINGH SOLANKY

(a)  &  (b):  A  new  scheme  called  the  Scheme  for  Transformational  and  Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS) was launched by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in February, 2019, to give a thrust to research in Higher Education Institutions. A Central Sector Scheme, STARS promotes translational, India-centric research in sciences, and is being implemented, monitored and managed by the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore).  With  the  key  objective  of  supporting  socially  relevant  research,  the scheme  identified  six  basic  thrust  areas:  Physical  Sciences,  Chemical  Sciences, Biological  Sciences,  Nano  Sciences,  Data  Science  &  Mathematics  and  Earth Sciences. Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences pertains to  Higher  Educational  Institutions  being  implemented  by  Department  of  Higher Education, Ministry of Education.

The  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy  is  implementing  Strengthening Teaching-learning  and  Results  for  States  (STARS)  in  the  school  education  sector which became effective on 23 rd  February 2021 for a period of five years i.e. up to FY: 2024-25. STARS is being implemented in six States which are Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.

Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences is aimed at all MoE funded  technical  institutions  and  Central  Universities,  besides  non-MoE  funded institutions with National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking above 100 or National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grading of 3.26 and above. The  total  approved  outlay  is  Rs.250  crores.  The  scheme  encompasses  award  of projects  in  two  open  calls,  followed  by  three  years  funding  each,  for  the  projects. Monitoring and evaluation of the projects was for two years. A total of 141 projects were approved in the first call with a total cost of around Rs.90.75 crores. Currently, 139 projects are being implemented at 37 institutions under the scheme. Recently, approval  was  accorded  for  initiating  the  second  call  of  proposals.  A  total  of  1053 proposals have been submitted under the second call across different domains as indicated above, out of which 227 have been identified in the preliminary round and the final  number of projects to be awarded funding would be decided by the Apex Committee.

(c) to (f):  STARS in School Education is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme. Under this Scheme, the annual plan for the scheme are prepared by the participating States based on their requirements, priorities and the same is presented in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) Proposals. These plans are then appraised and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in consultation with the respective States as per the norms of the scheme, and physical and financial progress  of  the interventions approved  earlier of the respective States.  The Government continuously reviews the implementation of the Scheme through regular review meetings with the States.

The details of no. of schools, students and teachers covered in the State of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan under STARS scheme are given in the table below.

|                |   Odisha |   Madhya Pradesh |   Rajasthan |
|----------------|----------|------------------|-------------|
| No of schools  |    47179 |             8047 |       68812 |
| No of Students |  5157012 |          1433407 |     9810181 |
| No of teachers |   203837 |            34841 |      387176 |

2311 schools in the district of Balasore in Odisha, 151 schools in the district of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh and 1847 schools in district of Pali in Rajasthan are covered under the STARS scheme of DoSE&L, MoE.

*****