Lok Sabha Question No. 1715 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Women Participation in Scientific Research and Development
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: FEROZE VARUN GANDHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1715 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04/05/2016

## WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

## 1715.  SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó Ùðüëðó be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  participation  of  women  in  Scientific  Research  and  Development (R&D) in the Department and its various institutes is less;
- (b) if  so,  the  reasons  therefor  and  the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the Government to address this gender gap in Scientific R&D;
- (c) the manner in which the new programme, Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), being implemented,  is  different  from  the erstwhile DISHA;
- (d) the extent to which DISHA programme had addressed the gender gap in Scientific R&D;
- (e) the  details  of  the  budgetary  allocation  and  expenditure  incurred  during  the complete period of DISHA and proposed expenditure for the programme KIRAN; and
- (f) the  type  of  institutional  support  provided  by  the  Ministry  to  schools  and universities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI Y.S. CHOWDARY)

òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó +ÉÉè® ÑðöÆãðó òãðìððÐð ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó

(gÉÉÒ ´ÉÉ<Ç. AºÉ. SÉÉèvÉ®ÉÒ)

- (a) Yes, Madam.
- (b) Department  of  Science  And  Technology  (DST)  initiated  exclusive  schemes  to enable women to pursue a career in Research and Development (R&D) in Science and Technology (S&T)  only in the year 2002. Before that sporadic attempts had been made in  this  direction  and  hence  only  a  few  women  were  engaged  in  R&D  in  mainstream science. One of the major reasons for this anomaly leading to gender gap in scientific R&D was the break in career that many women had to face due to familial compulsions like marriage, child birth, looking after old or ailing parents, children's education and so on. Subsequently, DST launched DISHA Programme for Women in Science to address these issues and made focused efforts to not only facilitate the re-entry of such women to mainstream science  by  offering  them  opportunities  to  pursue  R&D,  take  up  projects having distinct societal impact and explore a career in Intellectual Property domain.
- (c) Over the years, the programmes initiated by DST under Disha Programme for Women in Science, gathered momentum. DST also got better insights into various issues and challenges that women faced and made necessary adjustments to address these. Thus

in the year 2014, DST restructured the women specific programmes under one umbrella called 'KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing)'.  Through  KIRAN,  DST  is  not  only  addressing  various  issues  related  to women scientists (unemployment, break-in career, relocation, etc.) but is also aimed at providing opportunities in research, entrepreneurship, science communication, technology development/demonstration and self-employment. In addition, Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in women universities (CURIE) is another component of KIRAN that has a focus to develop state-of-the-art infrastructure to help large number of women to enhance their S&T skills and knowledge in order to make  a  fulfilling  career  in  this  domain  besides  promoting  research  culture  in  such institutions.    Further,  KIRAN  is  providing  budgetary  support  for  creating  Women Technology Park (WTP) where appropriate S&T packages for women are developed to improve livelihood and health & nutrition besides reducing drudgery in order to enhance their quality-of-life. KIRAN is thus different in many ways from Disha as it has more holistic approach and inclusiveness and gives more career options to women through new components, namely mobility as well as training in science communication, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

(d) Disha was focused primarily on gender mainstreaming and approx 500 women scientists got benefitted through this and entered in mainstream science in two years of its operations.

(e) The budgteray allocation under Disha for two years of its  currency as well as KIRAN since its inception (2014-15) is given in the following Table:-

| Financial Year   | Budget allocation under Disha, Rs. in crores   | Budget utilized under Disha, Rs. in crores   | Budget allocation under KIRAN Rs. in crores   | Budget utilized under KIRAN, Rs. in crores   |
|------------------|------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 2012-13          | 48                                             | 48                                           | -                                             | -                                            |
| 2013-14          | 43                                             | 43                                           | -                                             | -                                            |
| 2014-15          | -                                              | -                                            | 44                                            | 44                                           |
| 2015-16          | -                                              | -                                            | 58                                            | 58                                           |

(f) Ministry of Science and Technology devised a unique programme 'Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE)' in  2009  to  provide  state-of-the-art  infrastructural  support  to  Women  Universities  in order to strengthen as well as improve academic and research activities. So far, 6 such universities  have  been  given  grants-in-aid.  KIRAN  Scheme  is  mandated  to  support women at University level only and does not cater to schools.

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