25 Ministries/Departments of Union Government signed MoU on IMPRINT initiative

Twenty-five Ministries and Departments of the Union Government on 31 March 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) initiative.

The MoU is aimed at avoiding duplication of efforts of various Ministries and Departments under the IMPRINT initiative.

Features of IMPRINT initiative

• It is multi-disciplinary, multi-partner and multi-goal oriented national programme aimed at technology development covering all engineering disciplines, steered by all IITs and IISc.

• It aims to synergize with all the major initiatives of the Government of India like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Namami Gange, Skill India, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Swachch Bharat Mission, etc.

• Imprint India is a 1000 crore rupees project, which aspires to:

a) Identify areas of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation

b) Direct scientific research into identified areas

c) Ensure higher funding support for research into these areas

d) Measure outcomes of the research effort with reference to impact on the standard of living in the rural/urban areas

• The Imprint India will focus on 10 themes and each will be coordinated by one IIT/IISc. The themes are -

1) Health Care - IIT Kharagpur

2) Computer Science and ICT – IIT Kharagpur

3) Advance Materials – IIT Kanpur

4) Water Resources and River systems – IIT Kanpur

5) Sustainable Urban Design – IIT Roorkee

6) Defence – IIT Madras

7) Manufacturing – IIT Madras

8) Nano-technology Hardware- IIT Bombay

9) Environmental Science and Climate Change – IISc, Bangalore

10) Energy Security – IIT Bombay

Role of various Ministries

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) would be responsible for the following

• Laying down the Policy for implementation

• Coordination with the other departments

• Resolving the difficulties in implementation

• Meeting 50 percent cost of the project cost

The other Departments and the Ministries would be responsible for –

• Defining the requirements of research for inclusion in the IMPRINT programme

• Participating in the Apex Committee meetings for selection of the projects

• To review the progress of the projects from time to time as a part of the Apex Committee

Background

The IMPRINT initiative was launched on 5 November 2015. As part of the initiative, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) was set up as a single window mechanism to shortlist research projects by leading research and technology institutes. It will also approve funds for the same.

Accordingly, at a meeting held on 14 December 2015, the IMG decided to sign a formal MoU among all participating Ministries/Departments for achieving coordination, prioritization and synergy among all the schemes/projects/programs.

Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1  Current Affairs App