Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 24 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh announced a special drive for StartUps and R&D activities in the new and emerging areas in the University ecosystems of Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern region, in addition to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana, and Rajasthan by providing basic infrastructure and enabling scientific facilities, at the “Vishwavidyalaya Anusandhan Utsav 2023” organised today at Dr Ambedkar International Centre here.
On the occasion, each of the Vice Chancellors of different Universities was also handed over a PURSE grant up to Rs 12 crore by the Minister.
“In India’s quest for competitive advantage, our universities and related institutions need to play a major role towards generating high calibre human resources as repositories of national intellectual wealth in the S&T sector. In light of the vision of PM Narendra Modi that India’s self-reliance will be based on five pillars — economy, infrastructure, technology-driven system, vibrant demography, and demand it is prudent to strengthen the foundation of relevant R&D infrastructure across the Nation to contribute to the development of a self-reliant India,” Dr. Jitendra Singh said at the inauguration of the Utsav.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that in order to meet these diverse challenges and strengthen the S&T infrastructure support system in the universities and other related academic institutions, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) nurtures and supports a variety of infrastructure related schemes like FIST, PURSE, SAIF, etc. towards augmenting/ facilitating the R&D equipment for research activities at various Universities/ Institutes and other Academic organizations as well as promote industry-academia linkages.
It’s our endeavour that the youth of our country have access to quality R&D infrastructure to pursue research in all areas of S&T,” Dr. Singh added while speaking at the Utsav organised to showcase the achievements of the PURSE supported Universities.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Prime Minister’s vision is to step up the efforts in various fields to make the country ‘the most advanced laboratory for modern science’ in the ‘Amrit Kaal’-the next 25 years leading to the centenary of India’s Independence.
Working towards this vision, the Government has committed to invest heavily on building research infrastructure in the country. Under FIST Program, DST has supported 3074 Departments and PG Colleges at a total budget of about Rs. 3130.82 crores for Scientific Infrastructure Building in various STEM Departments in Universities and academic institutions.
Flexible infrastructure grants are being provided to universities nationwide to keep up the vigour of conducting highly challenging R&D activities with an investment of Rs 950 crores till date. The Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) with a nationwide reach supports the university’s research ecosystem by making high-end research equipment available to our academicians/scientists, enabling our universities to compete with global standards,” Dr. Singh pointed out.
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