Context
The Union Cabinet approved continuation of the 3 umbrella schemes, merged into a unified central sector scheme namely Vigyan Dhara’ of Department of Science and Technology (DST).
About
- DST acts as the nodal department for establishing, coordinating and promoting S&T activities within the country.
- Three crucial sector umbrella schemes have been being implemented by DST toward promoting Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) within the usa:
- Science and Technology (S&T) Institutional and Human Capacity Building,
- Research and Development and
- Innovation, Technology Development and Deployment.
- These 3 schemes had been merged into the unified scheme ‘Vigyan Dhara’.
Vigyan Dhara
- The objective was to focus scientific energies on a few particular regions that have been key to India’s sustainable growth and improvement in the coming a long time.
- Implementation of the scheme will strengthen the S&T infrastructure of the country by fostering well-established R&D labs within the Academic Institutions.
- The scheme endeavours to promote research in areas together with fundamental studies with access to the international mega centers, translational research in sustainable energy, water, and so on. And collaborative studies through worldwide bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
- All the programs proposed beneath the ‘Vigyan Dhara’ scheme would be aligned with the 5-year dreams of DST towards realising the imaginative and prescient vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
- The research and development factor of the scheme might be aligned in step with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).
- Internships could be arranged for students within the 11th and 12th grades and fellowships for studies at the graduate and postgraduate level.
Significance
- The merger of the schemes into a single scheme could beautify performance in fund usage and establish synchronization of the various sub-schemes/packages.
- It will make contributions to constructing an important human resource pool to bolster the technological knowledge and generation landscape and expand the R&D base of the country toward enhancing the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) researcher count.
- Focused interventions can be taken as much as enhance the participation of girls inside the discipline of S&T with the remaining goal of bringing gender parity in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
- The scheme could improve the efforts of the government towards promoting improvements at all degrees, starting from school degree to higher education, and for the industries and startups through focused interventions.
Source: Indian Express