Annual Report 2003 - 2004

Administration And Finance

Administration 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 17 autonomous research institutions/ other bodies and 5 science/engineering academies/ associations, which are working in diverse areas for the promotion of Science and Technology.

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

Recruitment Cell

The Recruitment Cell in the Department of Science and Technology is entrusted with the following functions:

(a) Recruitment of Group ‘A’ Scientific posts;
(b) Assessment of eligible departmental scientists for in-situ promotion under Flexible Complementing Scheme (FCS); and
(c) Considering the proposals regarding the recognition of institutions / organizations under various Ministries/Departments as Scientific and Technical and introduction of FCS therein. During the year, Recruitment Cell processed the case of filling of five posts of Scientist ‘B’ on Direct Recruitment basis, in DST. These posts are likely to be filled up soon. Recruitment of Scientist ‘C’ on deputation basis in NCMRWF is already completed and recruitment of Scientist G on deputation basis in NRDMS Division of DST is under process. Assessment of eligible departmental scientists for in-situ promotion under FCS as on 01.01.03 and 01.07.03 has been done and the assessment as on 01.01.04 is in the pipeline.

Further, the Recruitment Cell furnished clarifications to various Ministries/ Departments on FCS as and when required. Comments on the Rajan Committee Report regarding extending FCS to Group ‘B’ & ‘C’ employees of various Scientific Ministries/ Departments were also given.

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 fully discharge the parliamentary obligations of the Ministry of Science & Technology. The Unit also coordinates the visits of the Members of Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) to various scientific institutions which are under the administrative control of the Department. The PSC on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests recently visited the World’s Highest Observatory – India Astronomical Observatory at Hanle in Ladakh.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests met on 31st March 2003 to discuss the Demands for Grants for the year 2003-2004 of the Department and submitted its recommendations in its 117th report presented to the Parliament on May 2, 2003. 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 is a dedicated cell of the Department which looks after the well being of the employees of the Department of Science and Technology. In order to ensure the speedy implementation of welfare measures, a senior officer of the rank of Director has been entrusted the task of a Welfare Officer. A Charitable Homeopathic Dispensary is being run within the Department’s premises for the benefit of its employees. The Sports & Recreation Club promotes various activities for the benefit of the employees. During the year 2003- 2004, the Department’s Cultural team participated in the Inter- Ministerial competitions and won seven medals in various events. The Welfare Cell is fully committed and devoted for the empowerment of the women within the framework of the constitution. In addition, Welfare Cell also arranges farewell parties in honor of the retiring officers/ staff members of the Department.

Staff Position

DST has a total of 261 sanctioned posts of Group ‘A; and Group ‘B’ officers. A detailed breakup is given below:-

The Department has a total number of 397 non-gazetted staff on its rolls. The detailed
Groupwise break-up is given below:

Promotion of Official Language

For implementation of the Official Language Policy of the Government, there is a Hindi Section in the Department. During the period under report, concerted efforts were made for implementing the provisions of Official Language Act and Rules made there under and orders/ instructions issued by the Department of Official Language from time to time regarding progressive use of Hindi in the official work of the Government of India. During the year, following works were carried out:

• All general orders, annual report, performance budget, cabinet notes, agreements etc. continued to be issued bilingually 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.
  
• During the year, 20th and 21st meetings of the Joint Hindi Advisory Committee were organized in New Delhi and Chandigarh respectively under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS (S&T), Shri Bachi Singh Rawat.
  
• Departmental magazine “Tarang” is being published regularly and Scientific & Technical Articles are given preference in it.
  
• With a view to encourage original writing in Hindi, the DST introduced “Dr. Meghnad Saha Award Scheme”. Under the scheme, books written in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 are invited.
• ‘Hindi Pakhwara’ was organized from 8th to 22nd September, 2003. Successful candidates of different competitions were given prizes.
• Meetings of the Departmental Official Language Committee were organised regularly in every quarter. Hindi correspondence has increased from 61% to 67.02%.
  
• During the year, 10 employees were nominated for Hindi Prabodh, Praveen and Pragya Training.
  
• Two sections were made for doing implementation and translation work according to thedecision taken by the MOS (S&T) in Joint Hindi Advisory Committee.
  
• 11 Sections of the Department are directed to do their 100% work in Hindi language.
  
• 1st All India Official Language Conference was organized during 5-7 March 2003 by the Department. Around 80-90 Administrative, Scientific Officers/Employees from Subordinate Offices and Autonomous Bodies participated in this conference.
  

Library

The DST Library continued helping the Officers and Staff Members of the Department by providing Library, Documentation and Information Services. The Library undertook following activities during the period under report:

• Collection Development

Collection of books/reports in the library was enriched by acquiring, processing and making available to its users around 200 books/ monographs on different subjects. In addition to this, around 200 books received on Gratis were also processed and made available to the users. Bibliographic details of all the books acquired by the Library were added to the online catalogue being maintained by the Library. Library continued subscribing to scientific/ technical journals and processing and making these available to its users

• Documentation/ Information Services

The Library continued meeting the day-to-day information requirements of the users. Also, Documentation/Information Services such as Current Awareness Service, Newspaper Clippings Service, Photocopying Service, and Literature Searches to meet the specific needs of the users were also provided. Internet based information service was provided by searching the appropriate information available on the Internet and making it available after proper selection and editing.

Library also continued providing e-mail based information service to the users on topics of general interest to them. Further, to supplement the resources of DST Library, Interlibrary Lending Service was extended to the users. In this service, the Library borrowed books/ journals from other Libraries and in turn supplied books on Interlibrary Loan to these Libraries as per their requirements.

• Modernisation of DST Library

During the year, the Library undertook a comprehensive exercise of preparing a detailed system requirement study for its modernization. During this exercise, the detailed analysis was made of the present day requirements of the Library by identifying the critical ICT technologies available vis-à-vis their use in provision of Library & Information Services. The report has been accepted and approved both by the Library Modernisation Committee and the Library Committee. Actions have already been taken-up for its early implementation.

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. 790.00 crores (Plan) and Rs. 393.99 crores (Non-Plan) for the year 2003-2004. The Budget for 2004-2005 is Rs. 1290.23 crores (Rs. 890.00 crores Plan and Rs. 400.23 crores Non-Plan). Summary of Financial Requirements is placed at back inner cover of the report.