Announcing a special promotion scheme for women Scientists "KIRAN", the science and technology minister revealed that this will facilitate and smoothen the working conditions for women engaged in the field of scientific research. Dr Jitendra Singh also spelt out KIRAN. He said K means Knowledge, I stands for Initiative, R is for Research and N for Nurturing. He said this will further the gender parity too. 

Highlighting the initiatives and achievements of the ministries under his charge during the last 100 days, Dr Singh mentioned, "We lose out on many female researchers due to personal reasons. With this scheme we hope to bring such researchers back to work and gender parity in research in the country."

The 'KIRAN' scholarships will be provided under three categories-associated with research work in basic or applied sciences with any central or state level organization or university; women scientists involved in research and application of innovative solutions for various societal issues, and lastly for those researchers who are self-employed.