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New Delhi : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh on July 21, 2021, said Science and Technology is key to achieve Prime Minister Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said, the confidence of self-reliance will percolate down to the next generation and will help in attracting the best brains in the field of Science and Technology.
He was speaking after releasing a Review Committee Report on International S&T Cooperation prepared under the leadership of Dr Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India.
Dr Singh said that India is already a global power so far Science and Technology is concerned, but at the same time he called for streamlining and exploiting the huge untapped potential in tune with the Prime Minister’s mandate that scientific endeavour should be citizen-centric. He said, diversification should be taken as an advantage as very few countries are endowed with diverse resources, according to a PIB release.
He said today India has Science and Technology cooperation with 44 countries and this list will be expanded in coming days and months. He also called for subject based, rather than Ministry based projects to achieve fruitful outcomes within stipulated time. The Minister also underlined the need for bringing more and more domain experts in international cooperation and at the same time remain deeply connected with domestic arena. He said we have to go beyond the realm of Science and Technology to achieve the true potential of such cooperation.
Dr Singh said that very soon a new exercise will be initiated to hold brainstorming of each of the Ministries and Departments of Govt of India with the Ministry of Science & Technology,Ministry of Earth Science and CSIR. He recalled that over five years back, on the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an extensive brain-storming exercise was held in the national capital wherein representatives from different Ministries and Departments were engaged in an intense interaction with scientists from ISRO and Department of Space to work out how best space technology could be utilised as a modern tool for supplementing, improving and expediting infrastructural development as well as implementation of various welfare schemes. Following this, he said, space technology is now being used in diverse sectors including Railways, Roads and Bridges, Medical management/telemedicine, procurement of timely Utilisation Certificates, disaster forecast and management etc.
He asked the scientists of different Ministries and Departments to further enhance collaboration in the field of Research & Development and step up activities and collaboration with industries and corporate houses. The Minister pointed out that while different Science Ministries are making noteworthy contributions to nation building, they should not be working in isolation. He said, COVID taught us more about the value of coordination and collaboration not at the domestic level but also on a global scale.
Dr Anil Kakodkar, in his address, said, India has a long track record of International Cooperation in Science and Technology. He said cooperative and competitive spirit go together in such kind of cooperation which has multiple benefits.
Secretary, DST, Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DBT, Renu Swarup, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. M. Rajeevan, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR, Shekhar Mande, and other senior officers of the Ministry took part at the meeting.