Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 16: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed that Space sector is increasingly attracting StartUps and currently more than 50 Start-ups are already registered in this sector alone.
At the same time, he said, 38 Ministries in the Govt of India have sought technology support in different sectors. Over 200 proposals/ requirements were received from 38 Line Ministries/ Departments for Scientific Applications and Technological Support & Solutions by all the six Science & Technology departments including Space and Atomic energy, he added.
The Minister was presiding over a high – level joint meeting of all the Science Ministries and Science Departments at Prithvi Bhawan here. The meeting was attended by Bhaskar Khulbe, Advisor to Prime Minister, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, Dr Shekhar Mande, Secretary CSIR, Dr. M. Ravichandran Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr S. Chandrasekhar, Secretary Department of Science & Technology, Dr Rajesh Gokhale Secretary Department of Biotechnology, Dr S. Somanath, Secretary Space & Chairman ISRO, Dr K.N. Vyas, Secretary Atomic Energy, Hemang Jani, Secretary Capacity Building Commission and other senior officials.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, concerned Science Ministries and Departments are on the job applying different scientific solutions for sectors like agriculture, land mapping, dairy, food, education, skill, railways, roads, Jal Shakti, power, coal and sewage cleaning to name a few. He said, building on from 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 proposals and problems of Line Ministries.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, with the help of 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, the first round of meetings involving Science Ministries and Departments from the Centre and all States and UTs has been completed and demands from the States for scientific solutions are being compiled. He said, different States have different capacities but all of them are on board to work jointly with the Centre in areas like R&D, Innovation and STI Ecosystem.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that Gujarat is the only State in the country to have S&T policy, but after brainstorming sessions for the last four months, 11 more states including Sikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh are preparing their S&T policy. He said, each of the States and Union Territories has been asked to identify the areas where technological interventions can help in resolving diverse problems to enable ease of living for common man. He said, for instance the UT Govt of Jammu & Kashmir will be assisted through the latest snow clearing technology while Puducherry and Tamil Nadu are being assisted in restoration and renovation of sea-beach.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
