Lok Sabha Question No. 1706 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Brain Drain
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Janardan Singh Sigriwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1706

## ANSWERED ON 13/12/2023

## BRAIN DRAIN

1706. SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ͪव£ान और be pleased to state:

Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ मंğी

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the serious issue of brain drain affecting the developments in the field of Science and Technology and if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  reduce  brain drain from scientific community in the country?

## A N S W E R

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

ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ मंğालय क े  राÏयमंğी (èवतंğ Ĥभार)

(डॉ. िजतɅġ ͧसंह)

- (a) No significant brain drain to such an extent of affecting the development  in  the  field  of  Science  and  Technology  (S&T)  has been observed by the Union Government. Multifaceted approaches  have  been  adopted  in  terms  of  creating  adequate opportunities  in  the  country  to  retain  highly  skilled  talent  pool and  also  encourage  return  of  the  best-in-class  scientists,  from abroad, to India, for enhancing the nation's capabilities in various areas of scientific research, development and deployment.

(b) Several steps have been taken by the Government to check brain drain of the scientific  community.  Some  of  the  key initiatives  include;  the  diverse  extramural  funding  schemes  of Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology  (DBT)  and  Fellowship  schemes  of  DST,  DBT  and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to encourage researchers  to do  quality research  in the country; several schemes  /  programmes  for  building  research  infrastructure  for enhancing research capabilities such as Fund for improvement of S&T infrastructures in universities and higher educational institutions  (FIST)  have  been  instituted;  schemes  like  Core Research  Grant,  Research  fellowships  such  as  JC  Bose  and Swarnajayanti are targeted at scientific community to empower them  to  pursue  world-class  research  in  cutting  edge  areas  of science and technology; a large number of young scientists have been  supported  through  schemes  like  Start-up  Research  Grant, National Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship of DST, and Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship, Biomedical Research Career  Programme  and  MK  Bhan-Young  Researcher  Fellowship Programme  of  DBT.  Visiting  Advanced  Joint  Research  (VAJRA) Faculty  Scheme  of  SERB  provides  a  platform  for  overseas scientists including Non-Resident Indians to undertake collaborative research in Indian Institutions and Universities for a  finite  period  of  time.  In  addition,  the  Flexible  Complementing Scheme / Merit based promotion scheme positioned in scientific departments and introduction of Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS) in strategic Departments have also been instrumental in recruiting and retaining the scientists. All these measures  taken  by  the  Government  are  aimed  at  retaining  our scientific  workforce  in  the  country  and  thereby  reduce  brain drain.

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