The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) is the chief advisor to the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

on matters related to scientific policy. It is currently a

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

level position created in 1999 by the

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

government. At the time, the position was a Cabinet rank position, with the first PSA being

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

. This was followed by

Rajagopala Chidambaram Rajagopala Chidambaram (born 11 November 1936) is an Indian Physicist who is known for his integral role in India's nuclear weapons program; he coordinated test preparation for the Pokhran-I (1975) and Pokhran-II (1998). Previously served ...

who held the rank of a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

and was the PSA for 16 years. The current PSA is

Ajay Kumar Sood Ajay Kumar Sood (born 26 June 1951) is an Indian physicist, researcher and is serving as the 4th Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. He is also holder of 2 US and 5 Indian patents, known for his pioneering research findin ...

. The 'Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser', through the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) helps scientific cross-sectoral synergy across ministries, institutions and the industry.

Appointees

There have been a total of four PSAs so far:

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser

The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India advises the government in science and technology policies and interventions that are of strategic socio-economic importance to the country. This is done in collaboration with various ministries, institutions, academia and industry. The PM-STIAC is one of the catalysts for such tasks and also overseas the implementation of the tasks.

Nine National Missions

On 6 March 2019, the PSA announced nine new science and technology missions with a focus on 'Science for People and People for Science': * Natural Language Translation * Quantum Frontier * Artificial Intelligence * National Biodiversity Mission * Electric Vehicles * Bio-science for Human Health * Waste to Wealth * Deep Ocean Exploration * Accelerating Growth of New India's Innovations (AGNIi) Other major projects include Research Clusters, Earth Museum, Brahmaputra River System, I-STEM Facilities Map and Energy Security.

Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC)

The Council allows the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to ascertain the status, challenges and interventions needed in the science and technology domain so as to advise the PM is as best a manner as possible. The PM's STIAC increases the collaboration and focus needed to answer complex problems in appropriate time periods. One of the ways this is done is through it missions.

Members

Members include:(6 March 2019)
Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STAIC) Press Release
PIB. * V. K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog & former Chairman, DRDO *

A. S. Kiran Kumar Aluru Seelin Kiran Kumar (born 22 Oct 1952) is an Indian space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, having assumed office on 14 January 2015. He is credited with the development of key scientific instruments ...

, former Chairman, ISRO *

, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru *

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Madhuri Kanitkar Lieutenant General Dr. Madhuri Kanitkar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army. She is the third woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a Three-star rank, after Lieutenant General Punita Arora and Air Marsh ...

, Dean, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune *

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay (born 1968) is an Indian computer scientist specializing in computational biology. A professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, she is a Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize winner in Engineering Science for 201 ...

, Director, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata *

Manjul Bhargava Manjul Bhargava (born 8 August 1974) is a Canadian-American mathematician. He is the Brandon Fradd, Class of 1983, Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, the Stieltjes Professor of Number Theory at Leiden University, and also holds A ...

, Professor, Princeton University, USA *

Subhash Kak Subhash Kak is an Indian-American computer scientist and historical revisionist. He is the Regents Professor of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, an honorary visiting professor of engineering at Jawaharlal ...

, Professor, Oklahoma State University, USA * Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Forge, Pune

References

{{Reflist Indian government officials Science and technology in India Chief scientific advisers by country