Lok Sabha Question No. 2458 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Launching of REACHOUT Umbrella Scheme
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2458

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 15 TH  MARCH, 2023

## LAUNCHING OF REAHOUT UMBRELLA SCHEME

## 2458.   SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the REACHOUT umbrella scheme launched for capacity building;
- (b) the  components under the  scheme along  with the  progress  made in this respect, State/UTwise; and
- (c) the measures taken/proposed to be taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)-(c)  Ministry  implements  an  umbrella  scheme  Research,  Education  and  Training  Outreach (REACHOUT) which consists of following sub-schemes for capacity building :
-  R&D in Earth System Science (RDESS)
-  International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean)
-  Program for Development of Skilled manpower in Earth System Sciences (DESK)

The scheme is being implemented for entire country and not State/UT-wise.

The main objectives of the above sub-schemes are

-  Supporting  various  R  &D  activities  in  the  thrust  areas  of  different  components  of Earth System Sciences that are theme and need based and that would help in attaining the National goals set up for MoES.
-  Develop useful  collaborations  with international organizations  for  mutual transfer of advanced  knowledge  in  science  and  technology  in  Earth  Sciences  and  to  provide services to developing countries.
-  Develop skilled and trained manpower in Earth Sciences with the support of academic institutions in the country and abroad.

## R&D in Earth System Science (RDESS)

Under this sub-scheme, proposals from various academic/research organizations and universities in the  different  fields  of Earth  system Science are  supported  with an  intention that  it  would  help  in  improving  our  understanding  of  the  earth  system  (the  atmosphere, ocean, solid earth, biosphere and would help in attaining the National goals set up by MoES. For this, projects that are multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional in nature are encouraged and formulated. These are need-based and time-based projects and the deliverables of these projects  are  expected  to  have  impact  on  the  overall  deliverables  of  Earth  System  services (weather, climate and marine services) in the country.

The  Technology  Research Board  (TRB) constituted is specifically oriented towards indigenous development of technologies in the multidisciplinary field of Earth Sciences. The TRB is mandated to facilitate, promote, guide and implement the development of indigenous technologies till dissemination.

## Capacity Building and manpower support

To  address  the  issue  of  depleting  scientific  manpower  in  the  field  of  Earth  Sciences,  the Ministry had taken several steps for human resource development which include funding of M.Tech, M.Sc and Ph.D programmes at premiere institutes of the country, establishment of MoES Chairs at IIT's and IISER, opening of Centers of Excellence at various Universities with state-of the art research facilities. The details are as follows:

-  Supported  2-year  M.Sc.  course  in  Ocean  &  Atmospheric  Sciences  in  University  of Hyderabad. The project completed in March 2019.
-  Supporting/Sponsoring M.Tech and  PhD programs in Atmospheric-Oceanic Sciences & Technology at IIT Delhi
-  Supporting User-oriented M.Tech. programme on Ocean technology at IIT Madras

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.

Following  ESTCs  were  established  in  various  universities  for  conducting  research  in different specialized areas of marine and atmospheric sciences:

-  Marine Coastal Ecology of west Coast of India at M.K. Bhavnagar University.
-  Satellite Meteorology at SRM University Katanklathur, Chennai (SRMU), Tamilnadu.
-  Coastal and Ocean Technology with initial project entitled 'Hydrodynamic performance characteristics of Caisson type Breakwater at NITK, Surathkal, Mangalore, Karnataka.
-  Marine Biotechnological Studies at Sathyabama Institute Science & Technology (SIST) Chennai, with National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and Centre For Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) of Ministry as collaborating Institutes.

## International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography

In  order  to  enable  support  for  capacity  building  activities  in  the  field  of  operational oceanography for the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries and islands region as well as Africa,an International Training Centre was set-up at INCOIS under the Memorandum of Association (MoA)  signed  between  MoES  and  UNESCO  in  2013.  This  centre  is  aimed  towards promoting the development and optimization of scientific base, technology and information system for operational oceanography at national, regional and global scales.

## Development of Skilled Manpower in Earth System Sciences (DESK) at IITM, Pune :

DESK program 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.

-  Implementation  of  JRF/SRF  program  of  the  Ministry  and  their  ab-initio  training  in DESK of on-to-two semester duration-part of human resource development
-  Organize courses (of  short,  medium  duration)  on  specific  or targeted areas  for skilled manpower development within and outside of MoES by conducting short term schools and workshops of 1 week to 10 day duration
-  To  strengthen  research  and  education  support  for  science  of  the  climate  and  climate change  and  to  establish  linkges  amongst  the  education,  research  and  operational organization in the country.

******