The Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi along with the President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee launched IMPRINT India on 5th November 2015 which will enable the Indian Technical Institutions to conduct the work related to original research.
The Ministry of Human resource and development also issued a memo in April, 2015 which asked the top engineering institutions for creating an initiative for addressing the engineering challenges in the country.
For a country like India which is rich in human resources, it is very important to look forward to initiate research at domestic level and stop being dependent upon the foreign technology. This will not only make India a self sufficient country but also provide technological well being at affordable prices.
The term IMPRINT stand for Impacting Research Innovation and Technology which is first of its kind Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a
- New educational policy
- Roadmap for research to solve major issues related to engineering and technological challenges in targeted domains as selected by the country.
What is IMPRINT India?
The IMPRINT India is a new and unique idea for making the country self reliant with the human resources which it possess. India is a very young country and has a long list of challenges to counter with. The problems like poverty, illiteracy, sanitation, health, climate change, water scarcity, etc needs modern solution. Technology is the only answer for all these questions.
Technology demands skilled engineers who are motivated to carry inventions and technological innovation. For this purpose the Prime Minister and the President of our country addressed all challenges faced in engineering and technological field for this purpose, the program IMPRINT was launched on 5th November 2015 from the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The IMPRINT is a program which connects the theoretical knowledge which a person possess to the practical results through engineering inventions and technological innovations for the betterment of the country as a whole.
The entire process has been divided into ten identified domains, which are:
- Advanced materials – IIT Kanpur
- Energy security – IIT Bombay
- Environment science and climate change- IISc, Bangalore
- Health care- IIT Kharagpur
- Computer science and Information and communication technology- IIT Kharagpur
- Manufacturing – IIT Madras
- Nanotechnology hardware – IIT Bombay
- Security and defense – IIT Madras
- Water resources and river system- IIT Kanpur
- Sustainable habitat and urban design – IIT Roorkee
Every IIT and IISc was give a single domain to which they were to focus on and IIT Kanpur was tagged as the overall national coordinator.
Why IMPRINT is considered to be unique
People consider IMPRINT as a unique initiate because it was launched by the Prime Minster and the President of our country. But in reality there are other features of the scheme which makes if unique. They are:
- All the challenges which are related to engineering and technological sector were targeted. Therefore, not a single unit or challenge was given priority over others.
- The institutions related to higher education institutes (HEIs) inclusive of centrally funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs) were bind up together and were asked for actively contribute and involve in the program.
- The most significant contribution was of the twenty seven Ministry and Department of Government of India who signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Human Resource and Development for actively participating and sharing 50 per cent of the project budget.
- Above all, IMPRINT INDIA would never focus on research for knowledge creation by for translating this knowledge to develop new technologies which will help in the progress of the nation and will be beneficial for the society in large.
IMPRINT INDIA also encouraged the researchers in academia to develop new ideas in the field of engineering advancement. There were 2612 preliminary proposals which were received against the national call for proposal submission, and from these only 259 were selected for funding by the Apex Committee in the month of October, 2016.
There were 142 proposals under way since March, 2017 who received 50% funding from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development and the remaining 50% from the one of the signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding of Ministry or Department of the Government.
Many research and development institutions and industries are involved in IMPRINT India as co-planner and partners. The first review of the progress of IMPRINT India and its ongoing projects was schedules to be undertaken on the Technology Day that is on 11th May 2018.
Objectives of IMPRINT India
The following are the objectives of the Imprint India:
- To identify the areas of immediate importance that is required for innovation in the society.
- Imprint India ensures support related to funding and identifies the areas of research and development.
- To look into the outcomes of the innovative and research work which are held and their impact on the standard of living of the people.
Importance of IMPRINT India
1. Making India Self Sufficient In Terms Of Technological Development
IMPRINT India will motivate the technical institutions for conducting research in those areas where the country is very much dependent upon the foreign technology. The program is focusing on self reliance of the country. Depending on other nations will result in the sluggish growth of the indigenous technology and advancement.
2. Implementation of the Projects
142 projects which are under IMPRINT India 1 are already under progress. These projects cost Rs. 318.71 Crore and are already under implementation.
3. Domains
The projects which are under IMPRINT India cover 10 important technological domains.
Advantages of IMPRINT India
- Makes The Country Self Sufficient: The biggest advantage of the project IMPRINT India is that it will make the country self sufficient in terms of technology and engineering. The primary focus of the project IMPRINT India is towards those technical matters which are needed frequently for social purpose but are bought from outside.
- Decline in Series of Agreements: The country will not need to enter into series of agreements with other countries for getting technological help and assistance. This will also put a full stop on compromises which India is doing for procurement of technical help.
- Use of Human Resources: India is a country that produces rich human resources. But due to lack of infrastructure they start working outside the boundaries of our country. But for now the project IMPRINT will provide infrastructure and financial resources to carry on various developments in our country. The scope of engineers will widen as they will not only sit and do the research work but will also have the facilities to implement their work practically.
- Not a Particular Domain: The project does not focus on a particular domain or there is no particular area of concern as the scheme itself provides ten domains which cover all the fields in which engineering skills and technological advancement. Therefore, all round development is ultimate aim of the project.
- Development of the Country:India is a young country and is already burdened with many problems which needs innovative approach rather than the traditional one. Engineering skills are the only solution for these problems. As with time, the problems have become more complex and need a better solution. Sorting things out with a modern approach will also contribute to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.
IMPRINT II
Though IMPRINT I was working very well but a need was felt to sharpen the focus and to simplify the entire process and to widening the scope of the previously operated IMPRINT 1. The new scheme will have simplified guidelines for participants and it will work to create more cooperation between investors, partners and collaborators.
It will also make technological adoption and acceptance easier as the matters will be inclusive of those things which are highly in demand this will also enable the end consumers to adopt the technology without any hesitation. The new scheme will also have specific solution to the problems.
SERB that is Science and Engineering Research Board in the Department of Science and Technology is expected to be the nodal agency for implementation of the IMPRINT 2 and this will be working along with the National Coordinator. They will work to allocate the resources properly and their actions will be based on time bound planning.
Apart from national goals the new IMPRINT 2 will also work to accomplish global ends. The Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana will be subsumed with the IMPRINT 2 and there will be no acceptance of further call for proposal submission under Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana will be issued.
Important features of IMPRINT 2
- The primary objective of the new scheme is to translate knowledge into viable technology.
- The normally average cost of those projects which are approved will be around Rs. 2 Crore.
- The Ministry Of Human Resource and Development and the DST will be equal partners of the scheme.
- The new scheme is open to all MHRD funded HEIs and CFTIs.
- Industrial support to a project is mandatory.