CSIR Director General visits Northeast to trigger scientific temper

BOMDILA: Dr. Shekhar C Mande, Director General, Council of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India inaugurated the eleventh Multi-locational Trial & Regional Research Experimental Field at Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh recently in presence of Dr G. Narahari Sastry, Director, CSIR-North East Institute of Science And Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat and a team of scientists from CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

This mission of CSIR is in resonance with the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" vision of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat as a part of this ambitious mission has embarked on making plans to fructify the aim of our Prime Minister in doubling the farmer's income in the next few years. To achieve this objective CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat has made a master plan to have about 15 multi-locational experimental research fields in NE India with five centres in Assam, four in Arunachal Pradesh, and one each in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

Dr Mande also inaugurated the 'Essential Oil Distillation Unit' installed under the CSIR Aroma Mission under the aegis of CSIR-NEIST at Balijan, Golaghat. So far 31 distillation units were installed under the CSIR Aroma Mission throughout NE India, which is a step towards promoting rural entrepreneurship and enhancing the livelihood of rural people.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr Sastry, Director, CSIR-NEIST described the moment as a historic one and said that the gracious presence of Dr Mande not only boosted the team spirit and benevolent attitude of team CSIR-NEIST, but also raised the spirit of the local farmers to readily embrace agricultural entrepreneurship for a better living by augmenting their livelihood through science & technology interventions. Dr Sastry is very hopeful about this ambitious mission of CSIR and it is his conviction that the poverty stricken farmers will see a new ray of hope in their lives who are living in austere conditions in this remote part of the nation.

On October 17, Dr Mande paid a visit to CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat and had a one-to-one interaction with the young scientists of CSIR-NEIST and offered his suggestions to them in executing their R&D assignments.

He also had a meeting with the Group Leaders (GL) of various scientific groups of CSIR-NEIST and took stock of the progress of R&D works being carried out by the R&D divisions. A warm up friendly cricket match among the staff of the institute was held, wherein DG CSIR also participated.

The event was a prelude to the R&D-Academia-Industry meet held on October 18. The event commenced with the inauguration of STINER Training and Skill Development Centre by Dr Mande. This was followed by the industry meet which was attended by the industry heavy weights from the oil and gas industry sector operating in NE India along with entrepreneurs who availed the technologies of CSIR-NEIST as well as the ones who are aspiring to do so. Dr G. Narahari Sastry, Director CSIR-NEIST, addressed the august gathering and mentioned in his opening remarks that Dr Mande's presence was a big morale booster. He urged upon the scientific fraternity and the industry partners to work on S&T intervention for the economic prosperity of the NE India region.

Dr Shekhar C Mande in his address elucidated in a nutshell the unparalled contribution of CSIR labaratories as a growth engine in driving the country's economy to a flourishing one, which had its start way back before the independence of India in 1942. He categorically mentioned that CSIR was very much proactive in times of the COVID-19 pandemic which is why to a large extent the pandemic situation could be contained. He urged the industry people to contribute in solving the problems of the masses through S&T interventions. Dr Mande asked to identify atleast 50 burning economic problems faced by NE India and to work on them which will be a step towards in changing the impoverished face of NE India.

There were series of presentations by industry professionals and an interaction forum was held which saw the participation from NRL, Golaghat, ONGCL-INBIGS, OIL Duliajan, BCPL Dibrugarh, AGCL, OIL Pumping station, Jorhat, APL Namrup.

Also Read: CSIR-NEIST focusses on 'Aroma Mission', 'Jigyasa' & Medical R&D

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