Lok Sabha Question No. 1770 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-08
Subject: Inspire Awards Manak Scheme
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, C.N. Annadurai, Ganesan Selvam, Dhanush M Kumar, Gautham Sigamani Pon

मंğी

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No.1770

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08/12/2021

## INSPIRE AWARDS MANAK SCHEME

1770. SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

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

- (a) whether the Government is implementing INSPIRE Awards MANAK scheme;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  aims  and objective behind
- the move and the achievement made since its launch
- the number of ideas and innovations that have been received by the Department from students of all States  and  Union  Territories  of the    country    and    the  number  of  ideas  selected  for  INSPIRE  Award
- (c) during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (d) the quantum of financial support to each student provided under the programme;
- the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to attract talented young  boys  and girls to study  science and pursue research as a career;
- (e) and
- (f) the details of funds allocated for INSPIRE Awards and  towards organization    of    District/State    Level  Exhibitions    and    Project Competitions  to  the  State  of Tamil Nadu?

## 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) Yes Sir.
- (b) Department  of  Science  &  Technology  (DST)  is  implementing  a national program INSPIRE Awards MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National  Aspiration  and  Knowledge)  previously  known  as  INSPIRE Award Scheme with aim to attract young students to study science and pursue research career and to promote creative thinking and foster a culture of innovation among them.  A total of 15,84,597 students have been awarded with INSPIRE Awards since the start of the scheme. The Department has so far organized eight National Level Exhibition and Project  Competitions  (NLEPCs)  in  which  around  6100  students  have showcased their projects, selected from the State Level Competition.
- (c) The number of ideas and innovations that have been received by the Department from students of all States and Union Territories of the country  and  the  number  of  ideas  selected  for  INSPIRE  Award  during each of the last three years and the current year are as below;
- (d) Under  the  INSPIRE  Awards  MANAK  Scheme,  each  selected student  is  awarded  an  amount  of  Rs.  10,000/-  for  preparation  of project/model/showcasing of idea and participation in the District Level Exhibition & Project Competition (DLEPC).
- (e) 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

|   S.No | Financial Year   | Number of Ideas and Innovations received and   | Number of Ideas Innovations selected   |
|--------|------------------|------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|      1 | 2018-19          | 2,88,936                                       | 50,279                                 |
|      2 | 2019-20          | 3,92,486                                       | 42,143                                 |
|      3 | 2020-21          | 6,53,000                                       | 53,021                                 |
|      4 | 2021-22          | 7,05,308                                       | Selection under process                |

Development  (R&D)  to  build  a  pipeline  of  quality  human  resource, thereby widening the R&D human resource base of the country.  Every year, INSPIRE scheme offers 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 and 100 INSPIRE Faculty  Fellowships  to  establish  themselves  as  independent  postdoctoral researchers.

Government of India, through the Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science & Technology, Department of Space, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Earth Sciences, provides organisational and financial support to the 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.

Department  of  Biotechnology  has  a  major  emphasis  on  human resource development and an Integrated Human Resource Development Programme  in  Biotechnology  comprising  of  Star  College  Programme (Undergraduate level), Post Graduate Teaching Programme, Industrial Training  of  students,  Skill  Development  Programme,  Fellowship  for Bhan, Ramalingaswami, etc) research training in frontier areas of life sciences and biotechnology, short term training courses for upgradation of skills of  midcareer  scientists  and  faculty  engaged  in  Life  Science  and

Doctoral (DBT-JRF) and Postdoctoral (DBT-RA, M.K. Biotechnology Teaching.

The  National  Children's  Science  Congress  implemented  by  DST aims  at  spreading  the  concept  of  the  method  of  science  among  the children with their project activities adopting the process of learning by doing. The mandate of participation is that the children will carry out a project on a particular topic in relation to a Focal theme and several sub-themes. The practice of a project based activity encourages the children to explore, think, wonder and experiment with science.

The Initiative in Research and Innovation in STEM (IRIS) National Fair  promotes  and  nurtures  science  and  scientific  research  among young  Indian  innovators.  It  recognizes  and  rewards  the  outstanding student  projects.  It  provides  a  platform  for  winning  students  to represent India at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world's largest international pre-college science competition.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) through its  National  S&T  Human  Resource  Development  Scheme  has  been providing  doctoral  and  postdoctoral  fellowships  to  young  budding researchers through its various fellowship programs such as JRF-NET, SPMF, SRF-Direct, Research Associateships and CSIR-NPDF.

To  promote  scientific  temper  amongst  the  school  students, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had launched the program  named  'JIGYASA'  in  2017  in  collaboration  with  Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).

In  order  to  support  scientific  temperament  and  to  generate innovative spirit among  school  children,  Council  of Scientific  & Industrial Research (CSIR) has established CSIR Innovation Award for School  Children  (CIASC).  It  is      an  annual  national  competition  to harness the creative and innovative spirit of school children.

- (f) An  amount  of  Rs.  84,82,450.00  has  been  sanctioned  towards organization of District/ State Level Exhibitions and Project Competitions to the State of Tamil Nadu during the year 2019-20.

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