Lok Sabha Question No. 5495 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: INSPIRE Scheme in Nashik District
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Rajabhau Parag Prakash Waje

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5495 ANSWERED ON 25/03/2026

## INSPIRE SCHEME IN NASHIK DISTRICT

## 5495. SHRI RAJABHAU PARAG PRAKASH WAJE:

Will the Minister of Science and Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the implementation status of the INSPIRE scheme in Nashik district, Maharashtra including the number of schools, colleges and students covered during the last five years and district-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has assessed the low participation of rural, tribal  and  Government  schools  of  Nashik  in  submitting  'original  ideas' under INSPIRE and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of number of INSPIRE awards and total funds sanctioned to Nashik-based students; and
- (d) the  specific  steps  proposed  to  strengthen  mentoring,  incubation, laboratory  access  and  industry  linkages  in  Nashik  so  that  INSPIRE awardees  can  convert  their  innovations  into  scalable,  socially  relevant solutions?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The  Innovation  in  Science  Pursuit  for  Inspired  Research  (INSPIRE) Scheme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India is a national initiative aimed at attracting talented youth to study basic and natural sciences and pursue research careers in areas such as engineering, medicine, agriculture, and veterinary sciences, thereby strengthening the country's research and development base. The scheme operates through multiple components across different educational stages. INSPIRE-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge)  targets  students  aged  10-17  studying  in  Classes  VI-XII  by encouraging innovative ideas and scientific curiosity; schools can nominate up  to  five  students  annually  through  the  E-MIAS  portal,  and  selected students receive ₹10,000 through Direct Benefit Transfer to develop and

present their projects at district, state, and national exhibitions. INSPIRE Internship provides five-day residential science camps for about 50,000 top 1%  students  at  the  Class  X  board  level,  allowing  them  to  interact  with leading  scientists  and  Nobel  Laureates  and  motivating  them  to  pursue science. Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) supports talented students aged 17-22 with 12,000 scholarships each year worth ₹80,000 per annum to pursue bachelor's and master's degrees in basic and natural sciences along with mentoring opportunities.   The details of the implementation status of the INSPIRE scheme in Nashik district, Maharashtra, including the number of  schools,  colleges  and  students  covered  during  the  last  five  years  are given below:

|                            | INSPIRE-MANAK                        | INSPIRE-MANAK                         | INSPIRE-SHE                           | INSPIRE-SHE                           |
|----------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Financial Year             | Total number of schools participated | Total number of students participated | Total number of colleges participated | Total number of students participated |
| 2021-22                    | 681                                  | 2339                                  | 7                                     | 16                                    |
| 2022-23                    | 572                                  | 1928                                  | 3                                     | 7                                     |
| 2023-24                    | 572                                  | 1981                                  | 5                                     | 8                                     |
| 2024-25                    | 881                                  | 3454                                  | 5                                     | 7                                     |
| 2025-26 (As on 20.03.2026) | 838                                  | 3188                                  | 5                                     | 6                                     |

(b) The Government has reviewed the extent of participation by students and schools from rural, tribal, and Government institutions in Nashik district in submitting 'original ideas' under the INSPIRE-MANAK scheme. Details of this participation are as follows:

|                            | Total number of Total number   | Total number of Total number   | Total number of Total number of       | Total number of Total number of      |
|----------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Financial Year             | schools participated           | of students participated       | students participated from rural area | schools participated from rural area |
| 2021-22                    | 681                            | 2339                           | 1854                                  | 537                                  |
| 2022-23                    | 572                            | 1928                           | 1531                                  | 463                                  |
| 2023-24                    | 572                            | 1981                           | 1507                                  | 442                                  |
| 2024-25                    | 881                            | 3454                           | 2618                                  | 669                                  |
| 2025-26 (As on 20.03.2026) | 838                            | 3188                           | 2368                                  | 630                                  |

Details  of  category-wise  number  of  participated  schools  from  Nashik district is as follow:

| School Category/ Financial Year   |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |   2024-25 |   2025-26 (As on 20.03.2026) |
|-----------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
| Central Govt.                     |         2 |         4 |         4 |         1 |                            3 |
| State Govt                        |        87 |        71 |        49 |        99 |                           98 |
| Local Body                        |        73 |        70 |        42 |        67 |                           51 |
| Private Aided                     |       439 |       353 |       395 |       596 |                          574 |
| Private Unaided                   |        73 |        69 |        74 |       110 |                          105 |
| Others                            |         7 |         5 |         8 |         8 |                            7 |

## (c) The details of number of INSPIRE awards and total funds sanctioned to Nashik-based students are as follows:

| Financial Year             |   Total number of selected INSPIRE awards |   Total Funds Sanctioned (Rs. in Lakhs) |
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 2021-22                    |                                       378 |                                    37.8 |
| 2022-23                    |                                       133 |                                    13.3 |
| 2023-24                    |                                       179 |                                    17.9 |
| 2024-25                    |                                       317 |                                    31.7 |
| 2025-26 (As on 20.03.2026) |                                       270 |                                    27   |

- (d) To ensure that INSPIRE-MANAK  awardees  across  the country including Nashik district are able to transform their ideas into scalable and socially relevant innovations, a series of targeted steps are in place. Each selected student receives ₹10,000 to develop a prototype of the submitted idea, Students can access Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) for mentorship and prototype development support. Further, mentoring workshops are organised  for  students  selected  for  the  National  Level  Exhibition  and Project Competition (NLEPC) in collaboration with premier institutions such as IITs and NITs. Financial support is also provided to State-level winners to  further  refine  their  prototypes  for  presentation  at  the  national  level. Students  selected  at  the  national  level  are  provided  incubation  support including  patent  filing  assistance  and  technical  value  addition,  enabling them to further develop their innovations into scalable and socially relevant solutions.

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