The Department of Science and Technology is implementing a holistic scheme ‘Women in Science and Engineering-KIRAN (WISE-KIRAN)’ to provide various opportunities to women in the Science & Technology (S&T) domain through various programmes.
These programmes are Women Scientists Scheme that aims to support women scientists who had a career break; WISE Fellowship for PhD (WISE-PhD) to pursue doctoral research in basic and applied sciences; WISE-Post Doctoral Fellowship (WISE-PDF) for post-doctoral research in basic and applied sciences; WISE-SCOPE to address societal challenges through S&T interventions and WIDUSHI to support senior women scientists continue their scientific career.
Another programme provided by the government is ‘WISE Internship in IPR (WISE IPR)’ that provides training in the field of Intellectual Property Rights. Further, another unique initiative ‘Vigyan Jyoti’, started in the year 2020, aims to encourage meritorious girls to pursue a career in underrepresented areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
As per the data provided by the government, presently, around 21600 female students of Class 9-12 from 250 districts of the country are enrolled under this programme. Various year-round activities viz parent-student counselling, career counselling, special academic classes, tinkering activities, role model interactions, lab/industry visits, science camps, etc. are being conducted under this programme.
Under the Vigyan Jyoti Programme, there is a provision of one-year scholarship to the girls of Class 12. The total amount of Rs 5841.08 lakh has been distributed as scholarships to female students since its inception in the year 2020.
In 2020-21, a total of Rs 600 lakh worth scholarship was distributed to female students, Rs 971.52 lakh in 2021-22, Rs 2178.96 lakh in 2022-23 and Rs 2090.60 lakh in 2023-24.
Courtesy : The Indian Express