To give impetus to technical research, PM Modi to start 'IMPRINT' initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's penchant for assigning an acronym for government initiatives is well known, and now he has added one more to his list.The latest is IMPRINT, the name of a proposed single-window clearance mechanism for Indian technical institutions, as reported by Economic Times.[caption id="attachment_2474216" align="alignleft" width="380"] File photo. Image courtesy: PTI[/caption]According to the ET report, an inter-ministerial group is being set up for screening research projects, approving them and earmarking funds for them. The group will involve the ministries for human resource development, defence and science and technology, among others.This comes shortly after excerpts from former President Late APJ Abdul Kalam's last book were brought in the public domain. Kalam, in the book, had called for doing original research 'to design, develop and manufacture in India by using the ideas of the youth, the wisdom of the ages and the vibrancy of a democracy.'"We need to ensure that we do not become the low-cost, low-value assembly line of the world. If we go on that path, the growth will come at a great price and pain to the people," he is reported to have written.A Times of India report from June 2015 had said that India has fewer researchers among working people than countries like Kenya and Chile. The report had quoted R Chidambaram, a member of an organization which analyzed this data as saying that the problem occurs at the twelfth standard level and the B Tech level.While several persons who are interested in pure sciences go into engineering, at the B Tech level, several engineering researchers jump to management courses, Chidambaram is reported to have observed.