Launch countrywide hunt for potential Start-ups: Dr Jitendra Singh

• INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship component provides opportunities to 100 persons every year with Ph.D. qualification in the age group of 27-32
• Department of Science and Technology will take up the mentorship role to promote start-ups in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities

IndiGlobal Media

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has exhorted government agencies to reach out to potential Start-Ups and support them, in addition to offering support to those who themselves reach us. This way, we will not miss out on deserving innovative minds whose Start-initiative may not have taken off because of inadequate support or resources, he said.

Addressing students and faculty at an interaction meeting on “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE) Program beneficiaries at Moradabad, UP, Dr Jitendra Singh called for launching a massive countrywide hunt for innovative young minds and potential Start-ups, as they are the ones going to shape India’s future economy.

Taking a cue from Prime Minister’s call for right mentoring of Startups, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Department of Science and Technology will take up the mentorship role to promote start-ups in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as wealth creators and problem solvers in varied areas like industries, agriculture, dairy sectors as well as in areas like E-commerce, Fin-Tech, Ed- Tech and Bio-Tech.

The Minister highlighted that the INSPIRE scheme is expanding the R & D base of the country by building a pipeline of quality human resources and cultivating a talent pool. He emphasised that India needs to attract talented young students into science and give them a supportive, creative, and challenging educational environment from their school days so that they can become successful entrepreneurs and job givers through innovative ventures. More than 100 students / beneficiaries of INSPIRE Fellowships, INSPIRE Scholarships and INSPIRE-MANAK participated in the programme.

Referring to INSPIRE’s MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) Awards, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is a unique initiative to attract talented school students at an early age to study science and pursue research career apart from fostering a culture of innovation among them. Scheme caters to school children in the age group of 10-15 years and studying in Class 6-10.

The INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship component provides opportunities to 100 persons every year with Ph.D. qualification in the age group of 27-32 years for 5 years to carry out post- doctoral research in both basic and applied science areas including engineering, medicine, agriculture and veterinary sciences. So far, around 1400 faculty fellowships were awarded to the young doctoral students to establish themselves as independent researchers in the Global S&T Community for building a career in Research and Development.