Lok Sabha Question No. 1298 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Skilled Manpower
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Chinta Anuradha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1298 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## SKILLED MANPOWER

## 1298.   SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of skilled manpower working in the field of earth sciences;
- (b) whether the demand for skilled manpower in the field exceeds the supply;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for the same;
- (d) whether the Government has implemented any schemes to develop greater skilled manpower in the field; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor ?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has the following organizations under its administrative control and the skilled manpower employed in these organizations are given in the table.
1. India Meteorological Department (IMD, New Delhi).
2. National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF, Noida).
3. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM, Pune).
4. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS, Hyderabad).
5. National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (NCPOR, Goa).
6. Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE, Kochi).
7. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT, Chennai).
8. National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR, Chennai).
9. National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS, Thiruvananthapuram).
10. National Centre for Seismology (NCS, New Delhi).

Skilled Manpower of Ministry of Earth Sciences including all the constituent institutions are as below:

| S. No.   | Groups of               |   PostsMOES + CMLRE + NCCR |   NCMR WF |   IMD |   NIOT |   NCPOR |   INCOIS |   IITM |   NCESS |   TOTAL |
|----------|-------------------------|----------------------------|-----------|-------|--------|---------|----------|--------|---------|---------|
| 1        | Group A                 |                        142 |        65 |   524 |     95 |      45 |       40 |    170 |      70 |    1182 |
| 2        | Group B                 |                        113 |        15 |  3760 |     58 |      18 |       27 |     69 |      29 |    4089 |
| 3        | Group C (including MTS) |                         74 |        17 |  2732 |     44 |      23 |        0 |     78 |      57 |    2947 |
|          | TOTAL                   |                        329 |        97 |  7016 |    197 |      86 |       67 |    317 |     156 |    8187 |

Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  (MoES)  primarily  aimed  to  develop  and  improve  capability  to forecast, weather, climate and hazard related phenomena  for societal, economic  and environmental benefits including addressing the aspects relating to polar and climate change science  and  services.  MoES  is  also  responsible  for  development  of  technology  towards  the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in a sustainable way.

Following are missions through which the Ministry is providing services to the nation:

- Weather, Climate and Hydromet Services
- -Weather forecasts, advisories, warnings, Monsoon and Climate prediction,
- Ocean Services
- -Fishery advisories, ocean state forecasts, Tsunami warnings
- Ocean Resources, Survey and Technology Development
- -Non-living resources- Water, Energy and Minerals
- -Living resources, mapping, ocean biodiversity
- -Survey and Exploration of EEZ, Continental Shelf
- Seismological Services
- -Earthquake Detection and information, Geoscience research
- Polar Science
- -Scientific exploration of the three poles and linkages to Climate.
- (b)-(c)  No  Sir.  Demand  for  the  skilled  manpower  in  the  earth  sciences  field  is  being  met  by  the supply of such manpower by the academic institutions in the country, which have the earth sciences curriculum.
- (d)-(e)  Yes  Sir.  There  has  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the  allocation  of  funds  for  Research  and development in the earth sciences. Towards attracting the students for conducting research in the field of earth sciences, the Ministry of Earth Sciences had started Development of Skilled Manpower in Earth System Sciences (DESK) program. DESK was initiated to create a large pool of trained and dedicated multidisciplinary earth system and climate research manpower in the country with in-depth hands-on expertise on individual physical processes of the land, ocean,  atmosphere,  biosphere  and  cryosphere  with  special  emphasis  on  climate  modeling. Besides,  an  International  Training  Centre  for  Operational  Oceanography  has  been  setup  in Hyderabad for development of skills to conduct front ranking research in the field of Ocean Science.

Under  Earth  Science  &  Technology  Cell  (ESTC),  MoES  supports  theme  based  focused network  R&D  activities  involving  multi  institutions  with  focused  objectives  and  definite deliverables that can be translated into operational use. It also helps towards capacity building and creating adequate expertise in various disciplines of earth system Science for the benefit of society and national development.

Under  extramural  funding,  a  set  of  five  Project  Appraisal  and  Monitoring  Committees (PAMCs) and a Technology Research Board have been constituted for appraisal, review and monitoring of the various project proposals submitted by academicians within the country, for consideration for extramural funding. An Apex committee chaired by the Secretary has also been constituted to consider specific proposals recommended by these committees.

All  these  initiatives  are  expected  to  enhance  the  skill  of  the  operational  weather,  climate, ocean state and multi-hazard services incrementally for accruing the societal benefits in terms of minimizing the loss of life and property. Further, MoES supports various capacity building programs in academic institutions in the country.

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