THE MP Council of Science and Technology (MPCOST) has decided to institute rural innovation awards for institutions and individuals in the state.
The objective is to encourage and promote the useful scientific and technological innovations by farmers and rural artisans, director general of MPCOST Dr Mahesh Sharma said at a press conference on Friday.
Recently, the MPCOST was granted autonomy and the DG Dr Sharma, who is chairman of the executive council as per the new rules, chaired the meeting.
As per a decision taken during the first executive council meeting held in the last three years, the top award for institutions would be of Rs one lakh, which is equivalent to the highest award of the council – the Jawaharlal Nehru National Award. The second and third prizes for institutions would be of Rs 50000 and Rs 30000 respectively.
For the individuals, the award amount would be Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. The awards would be effective from this financial and just for this year, the council would be making financial provisions from its own resources while from next year the provisions would be made separately, Dr Sharma mentioned.
A selection committee headed by the DG himself has been constituted and would include VC of Rewa University Prof A D N Vajpayee, VC of Sagar University Prof D P Singh, former VC of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Prof MC Gupta, Advisor of union science and technology department and subject experts.
{{/usCountry}}A selection committee headed by the DG himself has been constituted and would include VC of Rewa University Prof A D N Vajpayee, VC of Sagar University Prof D P Singh, former VC of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya Prof MC Gupta, Advisor of union science and technology department and subject experts.
{{/usCountry}}Several other decisions were also taken during the executive council meeting that was attended by principal secretary of science and technology Dilip Mehra, Prof Vajpayee, former VC of Gwalior University Dr Radharaman Das, TGK Menon of Indore, state president of Laghu Udyog Bharti Dr Ajay Narang, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh Shiv Kumar Sharma, join director of the council and other members.
It was decided that from now on any technical or scientific institution recognized by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) could host the Youth Science Congress. Until now only university centers hosted the Congress. Also decision was taken to celebrate silver jubilee of the council for a year’s duration from October 26. The achievements of the council of last 25 years would be showcased and the future plans would be chalked out, Dr Sharma said. A committee of former director generals coordinated by the present DG would look into the details.
CLASS I DPC CONSTIUTED: During the meeting, a promotion/selection committee for class I officers of the council has been constituted and would soon hold a meeting. The DG said that he has already taken steps for the promotion of class II and III employees, but promotions at top would have spiraling effect on lower grades too. He mentioned that also there are several vacancies – around 50 in sanctioned strength of 210 - in various grades and steps would be taken to fill them up, mainly through deputation.
Decision was also taken to strengthen the finance and accounts departments and to up-to-date the audit reports. Constitution of committees and expert groups for some specific activities was also approved.