See Full Document Text
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5495
ANSWERED ON 25/03/2026
INSPIRE SCHEME IN NASHIK DISTRICT
5495. SHRI RAJABHAU PARAG PRAKASH WAJE:
Will the Minister of Science and Technology be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the implementation status of the INSPIRE scheme in
Nashik district, Maharashtra including the number of schools, colleges and
students covered during the last five years and district-wise;
(b) whether the Government has assessed the low participation of rural,
tribal and Government schools of Nashik in submitting “original ideas”
under INSPIRE and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details of number of INSPIRE awards and total funds sanctioned
to Nashik-based students; and
(d) the specific steps proposed to strengthen mentoring, incubation,
laboratory access and industry linkages in Nashik so that INSPIRE
awardees can convert their innovations into scalable, socially relevant
solutions?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) The Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)
Scheme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government
of India is a national initiative aimed at attracting talented youth to study
basic and natural sciences and pursue research careers in areas such as
engineering, medicine, agriculture, and veterinary sciences, thereby
strengthening the country’s research and development base. The scheme
operates through multiple components across different educational stages.
INSPIRE-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and
Knowledge) targets students aged 10-17 studying in Classes VI–XII by
encouraging innovative ideas and scientific curiosity; schools can nominate
up to five students annually through the E-MIAS portal, and selected
students receive ₹10,000 through Direct Benefit Transfer to develop and
Page 1 of 3present their projects at district, state, and national exhibitions. INSPIRE
Internship provides five-day residential science camps for about 50,000 top
1% students at the Class X board level, allowing them to interact with
leading scientists and Nobel Laureates and motivating them to pursue
science. Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) supports talented students
aged 17-22 with 12,000 scholarships each year worth ₹80,000 per annum to
pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in basic and natural sciences along
with mentoring opportunities. The details of the implementation status of
the INSPIRE scheme in Nashik district, Maharashtra, including the number
of schools, colleges and students covered during the last five years are
given below:
INSPIRE-MANAK INSPIRE-SHE
Financial Total number Total number Total number Total number
Year of schools of students of colleges of students
participated participated participated participated
2021-22 681 2339 7 16
2022-23 572 1928 3 7
2023-24 572 1981 5 8
2024-25 881 3454 5 7
2025-26
(As on 838 3188 5 6
20.03.2026)
(b) The Government has reviewed the extent of participation by students
and schools from rural, tribal, and Government institutions in Nashik district
in submitting “original ideas” under the INSPIRE-MANAK scheme. Details of
this participation are as follows:
Total number of Total number Total number of Total number of
Financial schools of students students schools
Year participated participated participated participated
from rural area from rural area
2021-22 681 2339 1854 537
2022-23 572 1928 1531 463
2023-24 572 1981 1507 442
2024-25 881 3454 2618 669
2025-26
(As on 838 3188 2368 630
20.03.2026)
Page 2 of 3Details of category-wise number of participated schools from Nashik
district is as follow:
2025-26
School Category/
2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 (As on
Financial Year
20.03.2026)
Central Govt. 2 4 4 1 3
State Govt 87 71 49 99 98
Local Body 73 70 42 67 51
Private Aided 439 353 395 596 574
Private Unaided 73 69 74 110 105
Others 7 5 8 8 7
(c) The details of number of INSPIRE awards and total funds sanctioned
to Nashik-based students are as follows:
Total number of selected Total Funds Sanctioned
Financial Year
INSPIRE awards (Rs. in Lakhs)
2021-22 378 37.80
2022-23 133 13.30
2023-24 179 17.90
2024-25 317 31.70
2025-26
270 27.00
(As on 20.03.2026)
(d) To ensure that INSPIRE-MANAK awardees across the country
including Nashik district are able to transform their ideas into scalable and
socially relevant innovations, a series of targeted steps are in place. Each
selected student receives ₹10,000 to develop a prototype of the submitted
idea, Students can access Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) for mentorship and
prototype development support. Further, mentoring workshops are
organised for students selected for the National Level Exhibition and
Project Competition (NLEPC) in collaboration with premier institutions such
as IITs and NITs. Financial support is also provided to State-level winners
to further refine their prototypes for presentation at the national level.
Students selected at the national level are provided incubation support
including patent filing assistance and technical value addition, enabling
them to further develop their innovations into scalable and socially relevant
solutions.
*****
Page 3 of 3