Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan toady virtually inaugurated Alignment and Awareness Event for Publicity of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research – Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (DSIR-PRISM) scheme at IIT Delhi here.

Union Minister of State for Education, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Sanjay Dhotre was the Guest of Honour on this occasion.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “‘PRISM’ scheme of the DSIR has been instrumental in supporting individual innovators enabling inclusive development of India. It is interesting to note that PRISM extends its support to any citizen of the country through direct benefit transfer in the core technology areas such as Affordable Healthcare, Water, Sewage Management, Green Technology, Clean Energy, Industrially Utilizable Smart Materials, Waste to Wealth aligned with our National objectives. It is also appreciable that the Intellectual Property (IP) belongs to the innovators. The innovation movement by DSIR-PRISM making synergy with three National Initiatives like Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Smart India Hackathon and Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG) is unique”.

The minister added, “It has been noticed that many innovators have graduated as successful entrepreneurs through this scheme and many of them have made extreme socio-economic or techno commercial impact. I am hopeful the concept of alignment of PRISM with three major national initiatives will give a concrete direction for DSIR-PRISM to make way-forward towards the dream of Hon’ble PM i.e. Unnat Bharat and Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.”

Speaking on this occasion, Shri Sanjay Dhotre said, “This initiative is expected to help in generating rural livelihood, inclusive innovation & socio-economic benefit. Initiatives like these have tremendous potential to alter the techno-socio-economic landscape of our country. Collaboration of Ministry of Education, DSIR, RuTAG, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Smart India Hackathon, marrying technology with domain knowledge expertise, will enable and boost the techno-preneurship in our country.  He said, “Unnat Bharat Abhiyan must be used as a vibrant platform to unleash the innovative spirit of our students. It, along with Aatmanirbhar Bharat, should become the core ethos of our technical institutions”.

Shri Dhotre said, “Digital India has proved that we can attain a global scale even when we use technology to address our own problems. For our innovators, 1.3 Billion people is a big market enough to work for. Start-Up Incubation Centres and Tech Parks should be a part of every institution’s ecosystem. Just like placement officers, we must have startup and entrepreneur officers in every institution to guide & mentor our students”

Shri Dhotre highlighted, “ The culture of innovation must be inculcated from childhood. We, in the government, academics, scientific establishments, & as a society, must promote & encourage this culture. Our new National Education Policy 2020 envisages developing an education system that supports these values of scientific temper & rational thinking, keeping which are at the core of the ethos of our Indian culture.”

Shri Sanjay Dhotre said that DSIR-PRISM helps generating rural livelihood and rural progress with innovations. He appreciated this as visible solution to various problems. Inn ovation may search solution for problem of pollution. Government is encouraging culture of innovations.

Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (PRISM) is an initiative of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) aimed at transforming an individual innovator into a successful technopreneur by promoting, supporting, and funding implementable and commercially viable innovations created for the society.

Under the initiative, an innovator of Indian nationality – student, professional and common citizen – is provided technical, strategic, and financial assistance by DSIR-PRISM for idea development, prototype development and pilot scaling, and patenting. The programme is implemented across various sectors from energy to healthcare to waste management and others.

The grant is given in two phases: Phase I and Phase II, catering to both the initial innovation stage and the advanced enterprise setup phase through DSIR outreach-cum-cluster innovation centres available throughout India. The grant amount in Phase I is around Rs. 2.0 lakhs to Rs. 20.00 lakhs and in Phase II maximum of Rs. 50.00 lakhs.

The Alignment and Awareness event was organised by the DSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology in association with three major National Initiatives i.e. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), Ministry of Education; RuTAG, IIT Delhi; and Smart India Hackathon (SIH), Ministry of Education.

Alignment of DSIR-PRISM with the UBA, RuTAG, and SIH is focused to work proactively towards providing a platform for technology innovation, customization and implementation towards fostering inclusive innovations, generating rural livelihoods, and socio-economic benefits.

The event’s aim was to raise awareness about DSIR-PRISM scheme widely through vast network of all stakeholders and identify scope and opportunities for future collaborations towards driving innovation for socio-economic development and inclusive growth.

Around 3500 institutions and 50,000 innovators, technocrats attended the event through online mode.