Lok Sabha Question No. 508 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: C.N. Annadurai, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Dhanush M Kumar, Ganesan Selvam, Gautham Sigamani Pon

## MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 508 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2021

## KISHORE VAIGYANIK PROTSAHAN YOJANA

508.  SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

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

- (a) the salient features of Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) along with its aims and objectives;
- (b) the number of youths encouraged under the KVPY in Tamil Nadu during each of the last three years;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  enhance  scholarship  under Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) to encourage research works and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the details of achievements made by the Yojana since its inception;
- (e) the details of funds sanctioned/utilized by the Government under this Yojana during the last three years; and
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government to identify students with talent and aptitude for research and nurture them in the field of science?

## ANSWER

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

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

- (a) The salient features of Kishore Vaigyanik Prostahan Yojana (KVPY) along with its  aims  and  objectives  are:  to  identify  students  with  talent  and  aptitude  for research; help them to realize their academic potentials, encourage them to take

up  research  careers  in  science  and  ensure  growth  of  best  scientific  minds  for research and development in the country.  KVPY Fellows can avail fellowship for a maximum period of 5 years at any educational institution in India, provided they pursue  a  graduation/post-graduation  course  in  Basic  Science  areas.  The  KVPY program  of  Ministry  of  Science  and  Technology  was  incepted  in  1999  and implemented by Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) Bengaluru. The KVPY fellows are given preference for admission in the premier institutions  in the  country which enables them to pursue an academic/research career in Basic Science areas.

## (b) The number of youths encouraged under the KVPY in Tamil Nadu during each of the last three years are as follows:

|   Year |   Number of KVPY Fellowships offered |
|--------|--------------------------------------|
|   2018 |                                  116 |
|   2019 |                                  136 |
|   2020 |                                  150 |

(c) No Sir.

(d) Government is achieving the objectives for which Kishore Vaigyanik Prostahan Yojana (KVPY) was launched. Starting from a small number of 1000 applications received  in  the  year  1999,  the  number  has  increased  to  1.56  lakh  applications during  the  year  2020  which  is  an  indicator  of   popularity  and  success  of  the program. Identification and encouragement of talented students having aptitude for  research  by  providing  fellowship  is  major  aim  of  KVPY.   Most  of  the  KVPY fellows join the premier institutions in the country viz. Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISERs) etc. where they get into the research  mode  from undergraduate  level  itself.  After  their  graduation,  students have  proceeded  for  higher  studies  including  PhD  programme  in  the  reputed universities/institutes in the country and abroad. Many KVPY fellows have been occupying important academic/scientific positions in Indian/Foreign institutions. This indicates the wide reach of the KVPY yojana to National and International Scientific community. Till date more than 5000 students have availed the benefit under this program.

## (e) The details of funds sanctioned/utilized by the Government under this Yojana during the last three years are as follows:

| Financial Year   |   Funds Sanctioned (Lakh) |   Funds Utilized (Lakh) |
|------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------|
| 2018-19          |                   1344.96 |                 1049.11 |
| 2019-20          |                   1734.45 |                 1281.3  |
| 2020-21          |                   2071.07 |                 1505.16 |

(f)  Several other steps have been taken by the Government to identify students with  talent  and  aptitude  for  research  and  nurture  them  in  the  field  of  science. Department  of  Science  and  Technology  (DST)  is  implementing  'Innovation  in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)' to attract, motivate, nurture and train  talented  and  meritorious  students  to  study  science  subjects  and  opt  for careers in Research and Development (R&D) to build a pipeline of quality human resource, thereby widening the R&D human resource base of the country.  Every 10 th    under  the  INSPIRE  Award  MANAK  (Million  Minds  Augmenting  National Aspiration and Knowledge), opportunity to 50,000 students to experience the joys of creative pursuit of science under the INSPIRE Internship, 12,000 Scholarships to the students who are within top 1% of Class 12th Board examinations under the Scholarships  For  Higher  Education  (SHE)  to  pursue  B.Sc.  and  M.Sc.  courses  in Basic and Natural Sciences, 1000  INSPIRE Fellowships for pursuing Ph.D. degree year, INSPIRE scheme offers 1,00,000  Awards to  the young students of class 6 th  and 100 INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships to establish themselves as independent postdoctoral researchers.

Since 1993, DST has been organizing National Children's Science Congress which aims to nurture the children, in the age group of 10-17 years into the process of learning science by doing innovative projects. The children pick up innovative projects in the focal theme area and try to solve a community problem. The handson and research-based activities lead to development of interest in science.

The  Initiative  in  Research  and  Innovation  in  Science  (IRIS)  in  Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), is a program which scouts for the students to do research-based projects in field of STEM education. The 20 best projects are awarded in National IRIS Fair and form Team India to represent the country in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held each year in the United States of America (USA).

Additionally, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) with support from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Dept. of Science & Technology, Department of Space, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Earth  Sciences,  implements  National  Olympiad  programmes  in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, Earth Sciences, and Junior Science. The programme comprises of multi-level competitions for secondary and higher secondary level students, culminating in the participation of Indian teams in International Olympiads held annually in the respective subjects. The programme has been running  successfully  for  more  than  20  years  with  a  total enrollment of nearly 350,000 students for the first level of the competitions every year. Indian students have consistently performed excellently at the international Olympiads, with a nearly 100% strike rate of medals, including a large number of the coveted gold medals.

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