Thousands of Government scientists employed in various departments and laboratories will soon have to mandatory take lecture classes in schools and under-graduate colleges.
Announcing this ‘new concept’ at a press conference to showcase his Ministry’s 100-day performance here on Monday, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said every scientist will have to mandatorily take classes at least 12 hours a year without any honorarium and would be part of the duty the scientists have committed to. The focus schools would be Government-owned and aided, but private ones could also be included, he added.
“An annual evaluation will be done of the work done by each scientist and every three years a performance evaluation will be done,” said Singh, adding that his Ministry would collaborate with the Human Resource Development Ministry to work out the modalities as soon as possible.
The Minister said this kind of engagement would be “free of any honorarium” and it would be part of the duty the scientists have already committed to do.
Singh also announced a special promotion scheme called KIRAN (Knowledge, Involvement, Research, Advancement through Nurturing) for women scientists to “bring about gender parity” in the field of science and technology.
Asked if this scheme was “old wine in a new bottle” as schemes for women scientists were already there during the previous UPA regime, Singh said, “this is a new wine in a new bottle,” adding that there was nothing wrong in carrying forward initiatives announced by the previous Governments.