(The Gist of Kurukshetra) Skilling the youth through Science and Technology [FEBRUARY-2020]

(The Gist of Kurukshetra) Skilling the youth through Science and Technology

[FEBRUARY-2020]

Skilling the youth through Science and Technology

Introduction:

India is expected to have 34.33 per cent share of youth in total population by 2020. There is a need for skilled youth in the field of science and technology in the country so that their proficiency in various tasks can be fully utilized. Skill development programmes are being conducted with the aim of connecting large youth population in various science and technology related enterprises.

Importance of skill development through Science and Technology:

The skill development programmes are being organised by various units and councils of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and by various national laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also initiated the Green Skill Development Programme.
Major changes in the Indian economy and the accelerated rate of industrial growth imply a larger demand for vocational skills. The rapid migration of rural population to urban areas has also created a demand for trained people to meet the needs of urban services. Further, a variety of new services have emerged such as financial, health, media, advertisement, urban utilities, cable TV and entertainment, and telecom services. There has also been a sharp growth and new product/service introduction in the agro-food processing industries for both internal use and for exports, requiring special skills.

Science, Technology and Innovation Policy:

As per the India's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STI) 2013 "science, technology and innovation should focus on faster, sustainable and inclusive development of the people. The policy seeks to focus on both STI for people and people for STI.
It aims to bring all the benefits of Science, Technology and Innovation to the national development and sustainable and more inclusive growth. It seeks the right sizing of the gross expenditure on research and development by encouraging and incentivizing private sector participation in research and development, technology and innovation activities.
A Strong and viable Science, Research and Innovation System for High Technology led path for India (SRISHTI) are the goal for the STI policy. This can only be achieved through skill development in science and technology. The key features of STI policy also include, “enhancing skills for applications of science among the young from all social sectors”.

Skill Development Training through Science and Technology (STST):

Skill Development Training Through Science and Technology (STST) aims at development of skills through training intervention by developing special curricula and creation of models for offbeat and innovative skill areas.
The National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), DST has initiated programmes of entrepreneurship development and self-employment generation using Science and Technology methods and techniques and by using the expertise developed in technical and Research and Development institutions for upgrading skills.
With Development of new and better technologies it becomes essential to upgrade the skills of man-power using such enhanced versions of equipment/tools.
Training has been a long felt need in some of these areas and NSTEDB has been trying to fulfill this gap right from its inception. The present STST addresses itself to upgrade the skills in a need-based manner for a select group of processes and technologies.
The main objectives of STST are to demonstrate that skills can be developed through the application of Science and Technology in order to harness the resources of Science and Technology infrastructure of the country, which have so far remained under-utilised as well as for skill development training to enhance quality of services/products and thereby enhancing income generation among skilled workers. Each training programme under STST will vary depending upon the type of trade.
However, an attempt would be made to keep the duration less than a year and in most cases between 2 to 3 months.

National Implementing and Monitoring Agency for Training (NIMAT) NSTEDB and DST:

With the objectives to promote and strengthen Science and Technology entrepreneurship, the NSTEDB sponsors.

Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp,
Entrepreneurship Development Programme/Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme,
Technology based Entrepreneurship Development Programme and
Faculty Development Programme.

NIDHI-STEP / TBIS and NIDHI-PRAYAS:

National Initiative of Development and Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI)-Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks and Technology Business Incubators (STEP/TBIS) are institutional linked facilities promoted by the Department of Science and Technology to nurture innovative and technologically-led new ventures during the initial and critical period i.e. the start-up phase.
In the present climate of innovation in India, there is support available for both Research and Development of ideas and commercialization of products, especially that which is provided by STEPs and TBIs promoted by National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of DST.
However, the primary aim of the STEPs and TBIs is to tap innovations and technologies for venture creation by utilising expertise and infrastructure already available with the host institution, be it an academic, technical, management institution, or a technology and a research park.

Student Start-up NIDHI Award:

Student Start-up NIDHI (National Initiative of Development and Harnessing Innovation) award aims to take forward student innovations in New Generation Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) to commercialization stage and accelerate the journey of idea to prototype by providing initial funding assistance.
National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), DST has taken this initiative of helping start-ups with initial / ignition funding. It aims to financially support (maximum 20 student start-ups each year with Rs 10 lakh each.
There is a definite need to address the gap in the very early stage idea/ proof of concept funding. Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs (PRAYAS) is one of the nine programs, specifically made to support young innovators turn their ideas into proof-of-concepts.
This support shall allow the innovators to try their ideas without fear of failure, hence allowing them to reach a stage where they have a ready product and are willing to approach incubators for commercialization. Hence NIDHI-PRAYAS can be considered a pre-incubation initiative and a source of Pipeline for incubators.

Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN):

This is an exclusive scheme for women with the mandate to bring gender parity in Science and Technology through gender mainstreaming. The programme is aimed at providing opportunities to women scientists who had a break in their career primarily due to family responsibilities.
KIRAN is aimed to provide opportunities to women scientists and technologists for pursuing research in basic or applied sciences in frontier areas of science and engineering, focused on Science and Technology solutions of challenges/issues at the grassroots level for social benefit and create opportunity for self-employment and also a sustainable career for the women scientists.
The scheme provides one year internship in the domain of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) which includes theory as well as hands on training in law firms.

Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research- AWSAR:

Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) is an initiative that aims to disseminate Indian research stories among the masses in an easy to understand and interesting format. AWSAR has been initiated by the National Council of Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), to encourage, empower and endow popular science writing among young PhD scholars and post-doctoral fellows during the course of their higher studies and research pursuits.
As over 20,000 youth are awarded PhD in Science and Technology every year in India, The scheme aims to tap this tremendous potential to popularise and communicate science and also to inculcate scientific temperament in the masses.
One hundred best entries from PhD scholars are awarded in a year. Further, twenty entries are selected from articles submitted exclusively by postdoctoral fellows relating to their line of research for monetary incentives, the highest of which can go up to Rs. 1lakh. This programme is being coordinated by Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous institute of DST (Department of Science and Technology).

Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP):

Green skills contribute to preserving or restoring environmental quality for sustainable future and include jobs that protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy and minimize waste and pollution. In line with the Skill India Mission, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFandCC) has taken up an initiative for skill development in the environment and forest sector to enable India's youth to get gainful employment and self-employment, called the Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP). It enhances the employability of people in jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment, while improving human wellbeing and social equity.

Technology based Entrepreneurship Development Programme (TEDP):

Technology based Entrepreneurship Development Programme (TEDP) primarily focuses on training and development need of Science and Technology entrepreneurs in a specific technology area (for example, leather, plastic, electronics and communication, fragrance and flavour, instrumentation, sports goods, biotechnology, IT computer hardware, food processing, bio-medical equipment, glass and ceramics, jute products sustainable building materials, herbs and medical plants processing, etc.).
The participants are provided with hands-on training in indigenous technologies developed by Research and Development institutions that are available for commercial exploitation.