Collaborate for optimum use of resources: Minister Jitendra to institutions

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday urged all research and development institutions to work in collaboration for optimum use of resources as the country marches towards the centenary of independence.

Singh was addressing through video-conferencing the directors and presidents of professional bodies under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) who were meeting in Guwahati to review their performance.

Singh said it was the best time for India's startups, innovators and the scientific fraternity as the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was providing them an enabling milieu to showcase the best of their potential, talents as well as their creative and innovative instincts.

The minister urged the RandD Institutions to work in collaboration mode so that the DST can utilise the resources and manpower optimally and think of the revised mandate for the 'Amrit Kaal'.

Singh said the 16 research institutions under the DST form a very special group as some are among the oldest in the country started by eminent scientists such as Mahendra Lal Sircar, C V Raman, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Birbal Sahni and D N Wadia.

The minister said most research institutions pursued basic research with the exception of Thiruvananthapuram-based Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology and the Hyderabad-based International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI).

Singh said the government recently approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) which will be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) over 2023-23.

The mission aims to seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial RandD and create a vibrant and innovative ecosystem in quantum technology, he said.