CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development

CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development

1. Purpose of the Award:

   The Award will recognize those outstanding S&T innovations that have helped transform the lives of the rural people or alleviated the drudgery of the rural people or have helped in generation of employment. Successful S&T innovations that are implemented at the ground level thus will be considered. The innovation applied for, should simultaneously have also broaden interactions among academic, R&D and rural financial institutions, industry and commercial sectors, and rural people and provide newer vehicles for participatory development.

2. The Award:

   This annual award consists of a prize of Rs. 10 Lakh, a citation and a plaque.

3. Eligibility:

   Any India Team, or an organization, or a company registered in India will be eligible to apply.

4. Selection Criteria:

   The technological innovation should have:

   Created a paradigm shift in standards of quality of life or alleviated the drudgery of the rural people;

   Demonstrated competitive advantage and positive user response;

   Helped in generation of rural employment in the country; and

   Show a new way of conducting business to achieve social and economic transformation in the domain of rural development.

5. Selection:

   For selecting the awardee, a two-tier selection process will be adopted. The initial screening, to shortlist the qualifying applicant out of the total application received, will be done by a committee of eminent experts representing diverse disciplines. The Committee will be chaired by an eminent rural development expert/ social scientist/ technologist/ member of the CSIR GB. The shortlisted applicants will be considered by a high-level expert committee chaired by an eminent rural development expert/ social scientist/ technologist/ Chairman of CSIR Advisory Board.

   The Award is normally presented along with the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award and Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prizes.