(a) whether the Government has taken note that well-qualified women get left out of the Science and Technology activities due to various circumstances; and
(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken by the Government to address such issues?
MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
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(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) The ‘Women Scientist Scheme’ of Department of Science and Technology, provides career opportunities which includes fellowship to unemployed women scientists and technologists, especially those who had a break in career, for pursuing research in frontier areas of Science and Engineering. There are three major components of Women Scientist Scheme namely, i) Women Scientists Scheme-A (WOS-A) for conducting research in Basic & Applied Sciences, ii) Women Scientists Scheme-B (WOS-B) for S&T interventions for Societal Benefit and iii) Women Scientists Scheme-C (WOS-C) that enables them to become Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) professional. In WOS-A and WOS-B, the age limit is 27-57 years and fellowship amount for M.Sc, M.Phil/M.Tech and Ph.D categories is Rs.30,000/-, Rs.40,000/- and Rs.55,000/- per month respectively. The total project cost, for 3 years duration of these three categories, is Rs.20 lakhs, Rs.25 lakhs and Rs.30 lakhs respectively. However in WOS-C, women scientists of age group 27-45 years are eligible to apply. The fellowship in WOS-C for M.Sc, M.Phil/M.Tech and Ph.D categories is Rs.20,000/-, Rs.25,000/- and Rs.30,000/- per month respectively. In addition to this, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is also implementing ‘Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe)’ with aim to provide opportunity to Women Scientists to carry out research in field of Biotechnology. BioCARe programme also considers women scientists having career break.
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