Lok Sabha Question No. 804 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-05
Subject: Promoting Youth in the Field of Science and Technology
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak, Chinta Anuradha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 804 ANSWERED ON 05.02.2021

## PROMOTING YOUTH IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## 804.  SHRI MANOJ KOTAK:

## SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA:

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

- (a)     whether Government has framed any policy to encourage the youth in the field of Science and Technology;
- (b)     if so, the details thereof along with the achievements made therein; and
- (c)     the steps taken by Government for promoting affordable and sustainable innovation in the field of Science and Technology?

## A N S W E R

## 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)           Yes,  Sir.  Encouraging  the  youth  in  the  field  of  Science  and  Technology (S&T) has been a part of the S&T Policy of the Government.
- (b)          Promoting  the  spread  of  scientific  temper  amongst  all  sections  of  society; enhancing skill  for  applications  of  science  among  the  young  from  all  social  strata; and  making  careers  in  science,  research  and  innovation  attractive  enough  for talented and bright minds are the first three key elements of Science, Technology and  Innovation  (STI)  Policy  2013.  The  Policy  also  focused  on  investing  in  young innovators and entrepreneurs through education, training and mentoring.

Government has taken several steps  and made significant achievements in encouraging  youth  in  the  field  of  S&T.  This  includes  implementing  schemes  and programmes  like  Innovation  in  Science  Pursuit  for  Inspired  Research  (INSPIRE), Scheme for Young Scientists and Technologists (SYST) of Department of Science and  Technology  (DST),  National  Postdoctoral  Fellowship  (N-PDF)  and  Start-up Research  Grant  (SRG)  of  Science  and  Engineering  Research  Board  (SERB), Research  Fellowship  Schemes  of  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research (CSIR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Research Associateship, Research and  Development  (R&D)  project  based  Project  Associates,  Har  Gobind  KhoranaInnovative Young Biotechnologist Award of DBT etc.

Provisions  to  annually  offer  50,000  students  under  INSPIRE  Internship, 12,000  scholarships  to  meritorious  students  under  the  Scholarship  for  Higher Education  (SHE),  1000  INSPIRE  Fellowship  to  pursue  doctoral  research,  100 INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship to carry out post-doctoral research in basic and applied sciences  demonstrate  the  commitment  of  the  Government  to  attract,  motivate, nurture and train talented and meritorious youth to study science subjects and opt for careers in R&D. Under INSPIRE Award MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) scheme, in a year, ten lakh ideas are being targeted from more than five lakh middle and high schools across the country, out of which one lakh ideas are being shortlisted for an initial award of Rs. 10000/- each, directly into the bank accounts of the students through Direct Benefit Transfer for preparation of project/model/showcasing  of  idea.  After  a  series  of  District  Level  and  State  level exhibitions,  the  top  60  innovations  are  selected  from  National  Level  Exhibition  for whom incubation  support  is  provided  and  also  would  be  protected  for  Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). In addition, more than 750 young researchers are supported annually  through  N-PDF  and  SRG  Schemes.  At  any  given  time,  CSIR  supports about  8000-9000  young  researchers  in  their  pursuit  for  doctoral  and  postdoctoral research in the field of science and technology.

(c)         Government has taken several steps to promote affordable and sustainable innovations  in  the  field  of  S&T.  Promoting  and  Accelerating  Young  and  Aspiring technology  entrepreneurs  (PRAYAS)  under  National  Initiative  for  Developing  and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) of DST supports conversion of an innovative idea into  a  working prototype developed by any innovator. For   promoting   affordable sustainable   innovation   in   the   field of S&T, 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.  NIF  has  built  an  innovation  portal  which  disseminates  nearly  1.15  lakh innovations and many of them are affordable and sustainable.

Technical Research Centres (TRCs), set up within the Autonomous Institutions of DST have been instrumental in building R&D translation ecosystem by supporting  advancements  in  technology  readiness  levels  of  background  R&D capabilities  and  intellectual  properties,  streamlining  multi-stakeholder  involvement, technology out-licensing, setting-up platforms for start-ups, and strengthening stateof-the-art R&D infrastructure.

CSIR  is  implementing  R&D  as  well  as  translational  projects  in  various categories, namely, Focused Basic Research, Niche Creating Projects, Fast Track Translational Projects, Fast Track Commercialization Projects, HARIT Projects and Mission Projects for the purpose.

Department  of  Bio-Technology  (DBT)  is  supporting  affordable  Healthcare R&D towards understanding the cause of human diseases at genetic and molecular level  that  enable  the  development  of  innovative  therapies  or  preventive  measures and  early  detection  in  areas  like  infectious  diseases,  chronic  diseases,  human genetics and genome analysis, maternal and child health, public health and nutrition, vaccine    research,  bioengineering  and  bio  design,  stem  cells  and  regenerative medicine.  DBT is also supporting translational research for application development under  Accelerated  Translational  Grant  for  Commercialization  (ATGC)  program. ATGC enables  academic  researchers  to  take  their  laboratory  research  leads  with established proof-of-concept to the next phase.

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