The Hindu Business Line : Rs 2,000-cr initiative to boost education, research in science

Tenali, Dec. 7 The Union Government is set to launch a Rs 2,000-crore initiative in three years to give a big boost to education and research in science, according to Dr T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST).

The initiative would be in the form of a couple of national programmes that would include Innovation for Science Pursuit for Inspired Research, Dr Ramasami announced while delivering the 17th Dr Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award lecture here.

The department would be the implementing agency for these programmes. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, would launch the initiative on December 15, he said.

Scholarship for Higher Education, one million scholarship awards of Rs 5,000 each to children between 10-15 years and creation of 1,000 contract positions with salaries on a par with assistant professors of IITs are among the other programmes, Dr Ramasami said.

To motivate students in a career in science, special workshops during summer and winter, including interactions with Nobel laureates, have been planned. The first such workshop with 12 nobel laureates will begin on December 15 in Allahabad, the DST Secretary said.

Earlier, Dr Ramasami, a leather technologist, was presented with the Nayudamma Award-2008 by the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Ms D. Purandeswari, at a largely attended meeting organised by the Dr Y. Nayudamma Trust on Saturday.

In his lecture focussed on People-centric Innovations, Dr Ramasami, a student of Dr Nayudamma, said: “The challenge before us was to keep the costs of innovation low enough to ensure that the outcomes are affordable and within the purchasing power of the common man.”

He cited the example of Chandrayan-1, the successful moon mission of the ISRO, as a fitting innovation and implementing of programme at low cost with high efficiency.

As the investments in research and development in India cannot be high, innovation is the only route.

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