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REPORT NO. 337 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE THREE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVENTH REPORT Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Three Hundred Twenty Ninth Report of the Department- related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change on the Demands for Grants (2020-21) of the Department of Science and Technology th (Presented to the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on the 30 November, 2020) (Forwarded to the Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha on the 30th November, 2020) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi November, 2020/ Agrahayana, 1942 (Saka) Website : http://rajyasabha.nic.in Email: [email protected] Hindi version of this publication is also available PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE THREE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVENTH REPORT Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/Observations contained in the Three Hundred Twenty Ninth Report of the Department- related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change on the Demands for Grants (2020-21) of the Department of Science and Technology th (Presented to the Hon'ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha on the 30 November, 2020) (Forwarded to the Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha on the 30th November, 2020) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi November, 2020/ Agrahayana, 1942 (Saka) CO N T E N T S PAGES 1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ………………………………… (i)-(ii) 2. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………… (iii) 3. ACRONYMS ……………………………………………………………… (iv)-(v) 4. REPORT …………………………………………………………………... 1-14 Chapter I. Recommendations/Observations which have been accepted by the Government………………………………... 2-8 Chapter II. Recommendations/Observations which the Committee does not desire to pursue in view of the Government’s replies……………………………………………………….. 9-12 Chapter III. Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee…………………………………………………… 13 Chapter IV. Recommendations/Observations in respect of which Final Replies of the Government are still awaited………………… 14 5. MINUTES …………………………………………………………………. 15-16 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (2019-20) (Constituted on 13th September, 2019) 1. Shri Jairam Ramesh -- Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Shri Anil Baluni 3. Shri R.S. Bharathi 4. Shrimati Vandana Chavan 5. Shri Hishey Lachungpa 6. Shri Bhaskar Rao Nekkanti 7. Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw 8. Shri Ravi Prakash Verma 9. Shri Binoy Viswam #10. Shri Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba LOK SABHA 11. Shri Guharam Ajgalley 12. Shri Pradan Baruah 13. Shri E.T. Mohammed Basheer 14. Shri Jashvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor 15. Shri Sudarshan Bhagat 16. Shri Rameshbhai Lavjibhai Dhaduk 17. Shri Anantkumar Hegde 18. Shrimati Jyotsna Charandas Mahant 19. Dr. Swami Sakshiji Maharaj 20. Shri Asaduddin Owaisi 21. Shri S.R. Parthiban 22. Dr. Ranjan Singh Rajkumar 23. Shri Kotha Prabhakar Reddy 24. Dr. Jayanta Kumar Roy 25. Shrimati Satabdi Roy (Banerjee) 26. Shri Mahesh Sahoo 27. Shri Francisco Cosme Sardinha 28. Shri Anurag Sharma 29. Shri Ram Shiromani 30. Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh 31. Dr. Ramapati Ram Tripathi ____________________ SECRETARIAT Smt. Sunita Sekaran, Joint Secretary Shri T. N. Pandey, Director Shri S. Rangarajan, Additional Director Shri Rajiv Saxena, Under Secretary Shri Harish Kumar, Committee Officer Shri Ankit Chansoria, Assistant Committee Officer __________________________________________________________________________ #Nominated w.e.f. 22nd July, in lieu of Shri Parimal Nathwani who ceased to be a Member of the Committee on expiry of his term in Rajya Sabha w.e.f. 9th April, 2020. (i) COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (2020-21) (Constituted on 13th September, 2020) 1. Shri Jairam Ramesh - Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Shri Anil Baluni 3. Shri R.S. Bharathi 4. Shrimati Vandana Chavan 5. Shri Hishey Lachungpa 6. Shri Parimal Nathwani 7. Shri Bhaskar Rao Nekkanti 8. Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw 9. Shri Binoy Viswam @10. Vacant LOK SABHA 11. Shri Guharam Ajgalley 12. Shri Pradan Baruah 13. Shri E.T. Mohammed Basheer 14. Shri Jashvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor 15. Shri Sudarshan Bhagat 16. Shri Anantkumar Hegde 17. Shri S. Jagathrakshakan 18. Shri Mohammed Azam Khan 19. Shrimati Jyotsna Charandas Mahant 20. Dr. Swami Sakshiji Maharaj 21. Shri Asaduddin Owaisi 22. Dr. Ranjan Singh Rajkumar 23. Shri Kotha Prabhakar Reddy 24. Dr. Jayanta Kumar Roy 25. Shrimati Satabdi Roy (Banerjee) 26. Shri Mahesh Sahoo 27. Shri Francisco Sardinha 28. Shri Anurag Sharma 29. Shri Ram Shiromani 30. Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh 31. Dr. Ramapati Ram Tripathi _______________________ SECRETARIAT Smt. Sunita Sekaran, Joint Secretary Shri T.N. Pandey, Director Shri S. Rangarajan, Additional Director Shri Rajiv Saxena, Under Secretary Shri Harish Kumar, Committee Officer Shri Ankit Chansoria, Assistant Committee Officer _________________________________________________________________________ @ Shri Ravi Prakash Verma ceased to be a member of the Committee on expiry of his term in Rajya Sabha on 25th November, 2020 (ii) INTRODUCTION I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, having been authorised by the Committee to present the Report on its behalf, present this Three Hundred Thirty Seventh Report on Action Taken by the Government on the recommendations/observations contained in the Three Hundred Twenty Ninth Report of the Committee on Demands for Grants (2020-2021) of the Department of Science and Technology, which was presented/laid in both the Houses of Parliament on 6th March,2020. 2. There were 13 recommendations/observations in the Three Hundred Twenty Sixth Report of the Committee. Action Taken Notes on the recommendations/observations of the Committee were received from the Department on 10th July, 2020. 3. In the meeting held on 10th September, 2020, the Committee considered the draft Report and adopted the same. (JAIRAM RAMESH) NEW DELHI; Chairman, 10th September , 2020 Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Bhadrapada19, 1942 (Saka) Science and Technol ogy, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Rajya Sabha. (iii) ACRONYMS ATR Action Taken Report BE Budget Estimate BHU Banaras Hindu University COVID Coronavirus Disease DST Department of Science and Technology EFC External Finance Committee FA Financial Adviser FIST Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure FY Financial Year GITA Global Innovation and Technology Alliance HRNTDB Generation of High Resolution National Topographic Data Base IIT Indian Institute of Technology INSPIRE Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research MANAK Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework NATMO National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization NM-ICPS National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical System NM-QTA National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications PURSE Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence R&D Research and Development RE Revised Estimate S&T State Science & Technology SAIF Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities SATHI Sophisticated Analytical and Technical Help Institute SERB Science & Engineering Research Board SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises SoI Survey of India SUPRA Scientific and Useful Profound Research Advancement (iv) TDB Technology Development Board TIH Technology Innovation Hub UK United Kingdom VC Video Conference VCF Venture Capital Fund (v) REPORT The Action Taken Report (ATR) of the Committee deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations/observations contained in Three Hundred Twenty Ninth Report of the Committee on „Demands for Grants (2020-21) of the Department of Science and Technology‟. The Report was presented to Rajya Sabha and laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on the 6th March, 2020. 2. Action Taken Note (ATN) has been received from Department of Science and Technology in respect of thirteen recommendations/observations contained in the Three Hundred Twenty Ninth Report. This has been categorized as follows:- Chapter I: Recommendations/Observations which have been accepted by the Government: Para:- 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 4.3.2, 4.6, 5.3, 5.4, 6.4 and 7.2. (TOTAL – 10) Chapter II: Recommendations/Observations which the Committee does not desire to pursue in view of the Government‟s replies: Para:- 4.1.1, 4.3.1 and 4.4. (TOTAL – 3) The Committee is convinced with the explanation furnished by the Department and, therefore, does not want to pursue above-mentioned recommendations further. Chapter III: Recommendations/Observations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee: Para:- (TOTAL-Nil) Chapter IV: Recommendations/Observations in respect of which final replies of the Government are still awaited: Para:- (TOTAL- Nil) 3. The details of the ATR have been discussed in the respective Chapters in the succeeding pages. 1 CHAPTER-I RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT BUDGETARY DETAILS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2019-20 AND ALLOCATION FOR 2020-21 Recommendation/Observation 1.1 The Committee observes that the Department received an additional allocation of Rs.812.60 crore for B.E. 2020-21 (at Rs.6313.63 crore) as compared to R.E. 2019-20 (at Rs.5501.03 crore). The Committee notes that