Annual Report 1999-2000

Administrative and Finance

Department of Science and Technology is the nodal Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The organisational structure of the Department has evolved over the years to respond quickly to the issues relating to the promotion and development of Science and Technology in the Country. It has three subordinate Departments viz. India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) and Survey of India (SOI) under its Administrative Control. In addition to it, the Department also supports 16 autonomous research institutions/ other bodies which are working in diverse areas for the promotion of Science and Technology.

The Administration and Finance Division of the Department look after the support facilities for the Subordinate Departments and Autonomous bodies including the personnel and financial administration. The activities undertaken by the different wings during the period under report are given as under :

Recruitment Cell

Recruitment Cell functioning in this department is vested with the responsibility of making recruitment to Group A scientific and technical posts from the level of Scientist Grade B (Pay Scale Rs. 8000-13500) to Scientist Grade G (Pay Scale Rs. 18400-22400) as recruitment to Group A Scientific and Technical Posts in the Department are exempted from the purview of UPSC.

A scheme called Flexible Complimenting Scheme (FCS) is in operation in the Department for providing in-situ promotion to Scientists. Under this scheme, proven record for scientific research and minimum period of residency in the Grade are the criteria for promotion. The promotions from Group B to Group A posts through Departmental Promotion Committees are however done in consultation with UPSC.

Parliament Unit

The Parliament Unit is assigned the responsibility to look after the entire Parliamentary Work of the Department. It also ensures that the Parliamentary Work pertaining to the Ministry of Science & Technology is accomplished as per the prescribed schedule and procedures. The Unit maintains liaison with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Secretariats of Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha, other Ministries/ Departments ( including Scientific Departments) with a view to fuly discharging the Parliamentary obligations of the Ministry of Science & Technology. This Unit also Co-ordinates the visits of the Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee etc. to various scientific institutions under the administrative control of the Department.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests met on March 23, 1999 to discuss the Demands for Grants for the year 1999-2000 for the Department and submitted its recommendations in its 64th report presented to the Parliament on April 23, 1999. The action taken report on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee was also submitted to the Secretariat of the Committee as per schedule.

Welfare Cell

Welfare Cell of the Department looks after the welfare of DST Employees. DST/DSIR Benevolent Fund has been established in the Department and a large number of employees have become members. Assistance is provided to the embers and their families to relieve distress from time to time. A Creche with requisite facilities is also being run within the Department premises for the benefit of its employees.

The Sports and Recreation Club promotes various indoor and outdoor activities. The Club regularly takes part in inter-ministerial tournaments and organises cultural programmes and excursion tours. This year, the Cricket Team of the Department successfully participated in the inter-ministerial tournament and athletes also took part in inter-ministerial Athletic Meet. Besides this, one of our athletes took part in the International Weightlifting Event held in Finland. New Year & Millenium 2000 was also celebrated in the Deaprtment.

Promotion of Official Language

For implementing the Official Language Policy of thr Government, there is a full fledged Hindi Section in the Department. During the year, concerted efforts were made for implementing the provisions of Official Language Act, Rules made there under nad orders/ instructions issued by the Department of Official Language from time to time regarding progressive use of Hindi in the Official Working of the Government of India. During the year, the following work was carried out:

• All general orders, Annual Report, Performance Budget, Cabinet Notes, Agreements etc. continued to be issued bi-lingually i.e. both in Hindi and English.
• Letters received in Hindi were invariably replied in Hindi.
• Incentive Scheme for original noting/ drafting in official work in Hindi is in vogue in this Department and during the year, 6 employees were awarded under this scheme.
• For encouraging the Officers of DST to give more and more dictation in Hindi, an incentive scheme is also in vogue.
• The period September14, 1999 to September 14, 2000 is being celebrated as Rajbhasha Swarna Jayanti Year. With a view to create greater awareness of Official Language Policy during this period, special competitions viz. Translation, Slogan Writing, Painting etc. were introduced during Hindi Pakhwada besides other competitions such as Debate, Essay Writing, noting/ drafting which are normally held. All the competitions received enthusiastic response.
• Four meetings of the Official Language Implementation Committee were held during the year and follow-up action was taken on the recommendations made in these meetings.
• During the year, 12 Oficers were nominated for training in Hindi Prabodh, Praveen and Pragya Classes and two were nominated for training in Hindi Typing.
• Work regarding reconstitution of Hindi Salahakar Samiti of the Ministry of Science & Technology is in progress.
• It has also been decided to bring out two special isues of in-house Hindi Magazine "Tarang" during the Swarnajayanti Year.
• For promoting use of Hindi in day-to-day work, 3 Hindi workshops including a special Hindi Workshops for Scientists were organised during the year.

With a view to encourage original writing in Hindi, the Department of Science & Technology has introduced "Dr. Meghnad Saha Award Scheme" since 1987,. Under this scheme, action is being taken for rewarding authors of original books on Scientific Subjects in Hindi.

Staff Position

DST has a total number of 236 Group A and Group B Officers on its rolls. A detailed break-up is given as under :

Group General SC ST PH OBC Total

Group A

Scientific 139 11 02 -- 01 153

Non-Scientific 30 02 -- -- -- 32

Group B

Scientific 11 01 -- -- -- 12

Non-Scientific 37 01 01 -- -- 39

DST has a total number of 412 non-gazetted staff on its rolls. The detailed Groupwise break-up is given below:

Group B 82 14 05 03 01 105

(Non-Gazetted)

Group C 128 29 06 03 07 173

Group D 57 66 09 02 -- 134

Library

A brief description of the activities undertaken by DST Library is given as under:

Collection Development: DST Library continued building up its collection by acquisition of new books/ journals as per the requirements of the Officers/Staff Members of the Department. During the period under review, the Library procured, processed and made available 614 books/ monographs. The total number of books available in the Library has risen to over 22,000.

Besides this, the Library subscribed to around 110 national/ international scientific and technical journals and around 100 such journals were received on gratis.

Updation of Online Catalogue: The Online catalogue of Books available in the Library was updated continuously and the total number of machine-readable records now stands at over 13,000.

Documentation Services: Besides making available books/monographs to its users, the Library continued meeting the day-to-day information requirements of the Officers/ Staff Members of DST/DSIR by providing a number of Documentation Services such as Current Awareness Service, Newspaper Clipping Service, Photocopying Service, Conducting Literature Surveys on Topics of special interest to users etc.

In addition to meeting the information requirements of its users from its own resources, the Library tapped the resources of other Libraries by cooperating with them through Interlibrary Lending. The Information Services were also provided to the users by conducting information searches on the Internet Search Facility available in the Library. During the period under report, around 35 information searches were conducted and the exhaustive information output was given to the users. The use of this facility will be expanded during the coming year.

Science and Technology Exhibition Cell

For the promotion and dissemination of scientific information, a science and technology exhibition cell is working in the Department. An exhibition was organised on the occasion of "National Consultation on S&T for Women – a new millenium Dialogue" during December 20-21, 1999.

Integrated Finance

The Integrated Finance Division (IFD) of DST has been entrusted with the responsibility of providing advice and support on all financial matters and monitoring the progress of expenditure on various activities. The DST was allocated an amount of Rs. 298.00 crores (Plan) and Rs. 359.25 crores (Non-Plan) for the year 1999-2000. The Budget for 2000-2001 is Rs. 779.81 crores ( Rs. 352.00 crores Plan and Rs. 427.81 crores Non-Plan).