This scheme will help manufacturers of electronics goods to hire appropriately trained and skilled people
By EB Bureau
Monday, January 13, 2014: As a part of the government’s commitment to promoting domestic manufacturing of electronic goods, it has approved a Rs 4010 million scheme for universities to train students in electronics and information technology at the PhD level. Announcing this at a conference of smartcard manufacturers, J Satyanarayana, secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), said, “We want to take the number of PhD students in electronics and information technology from the current two-digit numbers to 1500, annually, in the next five years.”
This scheme will help manufacturers of electronics goods to hire appropriately trained and skilled people. Currently, manufacturers are finding it a challenge to hire the right people as there is a shortage of skilled hands in the industry.
Objective of the scheme
The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) recommended this ‘PhD Scheme’, which aims at enrolling 1500 PhD students in the electronics system, design and manufacturing (ESDM) domain, over a period of five years through fellowship support.
An interesting feature of the scheme is that it is available to both full-time PhD scholars as well as working professionals, who may wish to improve their career prospects by pursuing a part-time PhD. Out of the 1500 PhDs targeted under the scheme for ESDM, 500 PhD will be full-time and 1000 part-time.
Eligibility for the scheme
The project will provide funds to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information and Technology (IIITs) Indian institute of Science (IISc), all Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), Central universities, deemed universities under the central government, colleges/institutions of national importance and other technology institutes.
A university created under a Provincial Act or State Act, state universities, private universities, private deemed universities, colleges that are allowed to offer PhDs, and other R&D institutions will need to get recognised under the scheme to be eligible for support. An academic committee will be set up by the HRD division of DeitY to select such institutions.
Financial support
The financial support under the proposed scheme will include:
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The PhD fellowship comes with Rs 22,500 per month in the first and second years, and of Rs 25,000 per month in the third, fourth and fifth years
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Annual contingency grant/support of Rs 30,000 per year
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Support for HRA
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Infrastructure grant of up to 50 per cent of total expenditure, up to a maximum of Rs 500,000
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Institutional head at Rs 25,000 per year per candidate
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One-time incentive of Rs 250,000 for working professionals and non-PhD faculty members to pursue a PhD in the ESDM or IT/ITES field
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Support of up to Rs 50,000 per conference for attending international conferences (total 1000 such supports over a period of five years)
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Young faculty research fellowship of up to Rs 20,000 per month (total 200 such support over a period of five years) and Rs 500,000 per year as a research/contingency grant
It is expected that after the approval of the Cabinet, the scheme will be operarional from the session starting January 2014.
For details, contact AK Arora, director, DeitY, (aarora@deity.gov.in)
