Over 200 proposals received from ministries for tech support: S&T Minister

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Over 200 proposals/requirements were received from 38 line ministries/departments for scientific applications and technological support and solutions by all the six science and technology departments, including Space and Atomic Energy, Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.

“So far, 38 ministries in the Government of India have sought technology support in different sectors. The concerned Science Ministries and Departments are on the job applying different scientific solutions for sectors such as agriculture, land mapping, dairy, food, education, skill, railways, roads, Jal Shakti, power, coal and sewage cleaning to name a few,” he said while presiding over a high-level joint meeting of all the science ministries and departments at Prithvi Bhawan here.

Building on previous such meetings, joint working groups are being set up between science departments and line ministries to speed up identification of the scientific applications for the latter’s proposals and problems, he said.

With the help of the Capacity Building Commission, a template is also being prepared to take up theme wise deliberations between Centre and states/UTs depending on specific needs, from place to place. The Minister said that the first round of meetings involving science ministries and departments from the Centre and all states/UTs has been completed and demands from the States for scientific solutions are being compiled.

After the unlocking of the space sector for private players, innovative startups are coming in a big way to explore the untapped potential, he said, adding that more than 50 startups are working in the space sector and about 10 of them are having funding of over Rs 50 crore or more individually.

The meeting was attended by Advisor to Prime Minister, Bhaskar Khulbe; Principal Scientific Adviser to the government, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, CSIR Secretary, Dr Shekhar Mande, Secretary, Earth Sciences, Dr M Ravichandran; Secretary, Science and Technology, Dr S Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Biotechnology, Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Space and ISRO Chairman, S. Somanath, Secretary, Atomic Energy, Dr K.N. Vyas, Secretary, Capacity Building Commission Hemang Jani, and other senior officials.

–IANS

niv/vd