Ministry of Science & Technology Launches E-Management of Inspire Award Scheme

The Ministry of Science & Technology has launched its new project of E-MIAS for the future Inspire Awards. It was launched during the ongoing 3rd National level Exhibition and Project Competitions (NLEPC) being held under the INSPIRE Awards Scheme of the Ministry of Science & Technology here in New Delhi by Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences. ). The application software is ready for use by all the States / UTs, Districts and Schools and the 3 Central organizations viz. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools and Sainik Society School. All the concerned authorities are requested to start using the new application software and send future proposals for awards and funds for conducting competitions at various levels online.

What is E-MIAS

Under the INSPIRE Award Scheme, large number of nominations, running into lakhs, have to be processed for selection of the students for INSPIRE Award. DST plans to e-manage the entire INSPIRE Award Scheme by using State-of-Art latest Information Technology which would enable e-filing of nominations by the schools across the country, its processing by the District and State authorities as well as DST in accordance with the norms of the scheme, transmission of data of selected students to the banks, credit of Award amount to the bank accounts of selected Awardees (wherever notified) or preparation of INSPIRE Award Warrants by the bank and their dispatch to the selected Awardees and all such related activities concerning implementation of the scheme, management of the data, generation of various MIS returns etc.

Salient Features of E-MIAS

o It will enable about 5 lakh middle and high schools all over the country to log in online and file nominations under the Scheme, which would be received electronically by the District Education authorities for further processing. The schools will also be able to view, download and print list of sanctioned awardees and their certificates.

o Similarly, it will enable all the (nearly) 700 District Education Authorities and 35 States / UTs and 3 Central Educational Organizations (Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Sainik School Sangathan) to log in online and process the proposals received from schools and submit to the National Authority i.e. Department of Science & Technology (DST) for sanction.

o The State and Districts authorities will also be able to submit the proposals for funds release for DLEPCs / SLEPCs online.

o It will enable the National Authority (DST) to process the proposals and Awards / Funds so received from the State Authorities online and issue sanctions electronically, as per the approved norms.

o The software will also have facilities for registration of schools, District Authorities and State Authority, sending and receiving online communications to / from these authorities, receiving utilisation certificates, summary reports, electronically generate standard and tailor-made MIS reports and so on.

o It will also have the public domain home page where even public at large would be able to view not only the basic details of the scheme but also the awards sanctioned to various States / schools , various reports / documents / forms relating to scheme, submit suggestions / feedback and so on.

o The service provider will also put in place a call centre, which will run six days a week, to cater to the need / grievances of stakeholders.

The site can be accessed at URL (www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in) and the some features of the same can be seen at this web address (public domain features). Other features will require log in details of the respective authorities.

Agency for Implementation of E-MIAS

DST has selected M/s ILFS Technologies Ltd. for preparation of application software for E-MIAS as well as for its operation and maintenance during next 5 years, including conduct of orientation-cum-training sessions for State / District Authorities.

Pilot Launch

The application software was field tested during August – September 2013 in the two selected States of Tamil Nadu and Punjab and one Union Territory i.e. Delhi with an objective of testing the efficacy of the system to meet the objectives / needs and its security features, etc. The application software has been finalised on the basis of feedback / suggestions received from these States and in house checking.

Orientation-cum-Training Session for State / District / School Authorities

State Nodal Officers (SNOs) are requested to organize Orientation-cum-Training Session at State headquarters / any other place selected by them for all the DNOs as well as other concerned officers of the office of SNOs / DNOs to make them familiar with the features of the new application software and impress upon them the need to file online nominations / requests and use other features.

Officers of DST and M/s ILFS Technologies Ltd. will assist the SNOs for conduct of State level training sessions and train master-trainers. On similar lines, the SNOs / Master Trainers will conduct ‘Orientation-cum-Training Sessions in all the Districts for all Schools in the District as well as for the staff of DNOs dealing with the scheme. Expenditure in connection with conduct of such training sessions at State and District level can be met from out of the unspent balance of funds released by DST for conduct of competitions at various levels. Wherever required, additional funds for this purpose will also be released by the DST as per prescribed norms.