(a) whether the Government is having any central scheme to assist the young scientists in
the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to liberalise such scheme;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the steps taken/ proposed to be taken by the Government to check brain drain from India?
MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES
(KAPIL SIBAL)
(a) to (e): Yes, Sir. Developing and nurturing of human resource in Science & Technology has
always been on top of the Government’s agenda. A number of schemes have been instituted by
the Government for encouraging Young Scientists, and also for nurturing talented students in
the form of SERC Programme for Young Scientists including BOYSCAST Fellowships and Fellowships
like Swarnajayanthi Fellowships, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Fellowships, KS Krishnan Fellowships,
Ramanna Fellowships and J.C. Bose & Ramanujam Fellowships for practicing young scientists &
technologists, and CSIR programme on Youth for leadership in Science (CPYLS), Diamond Jubilee
Research Interns Award Scheme, Junior/Senior Research Fellowships (JRF/SRF), Biotechnology
Post Doctoral Research Associateship & Overseas Fellowships , Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan
Yojana (KVPY), National Science Olympiad Programme etc. for attracting and retaining young
talented students in R&D. In addition, the young scientists including students have been
exposed to new technologies through schools, workshops etc. to encourage them to discover
and/or experiment on new technologies including the emerging fields like nanoscience &
nanotechnology, biotechnology etc. Most of these schemes have been operated in a liberalized
manner from time to time based on the needs of the young scientists.
In addition, the Government, in the XI Plan has launched a new scheme called INSPIRE
(Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research). The main features of the proposed
scheme will be:
(1) innovation funding in schools (one million young innovators);
(2) summer camp with science icons (for high performers);
(3) assured opportunity schemes for proven talent force; and,
(4) retention of talent in public funded research through public-private partnerships.
Further, another new scheme on Scholarships for Science in Higher Education (SHE) is being
initiated in the XI Plan under which 10,000 fellowships of Rs. 1,00,000/- per year for bright
students in science streams during their B.Sc/ M.Sc courses would be provided. These
initiatives are aimed at generating interest in youth to conduct more and more research and
produce valuable results.
The Government recognizes that a large number of scientists go abroad for higher studies
and/ or advanced research. A majority of them do come back and contribute to growth of S&T
in the country. The Government has recently launched some innovative schemes to either
motivate scientists of Indian origin to come back to India or leverage their scientific
expertise for growth of R&D in the country. Some such initiatives are the Ramanujan Fellowship
and the Collaborative Projects with Scientists & Technologists of Indian Origin Abroad
Programme (CP-STIO) of DST. K.S. Krishnan Research Associateship of Department of Atomic
Energy, the Ramalingaswamy Fellowship and the Talent Search Scheme for the Non-Resident
Indians of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) are some of such schemes.