The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) is preparing a master plan on technology deployment in key sectors to aid sustainable development, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.
The State is seeking assistance from the Union government to set up a Centre- State Institute for Technology Transfer, he said while inaugurating the National Technology Day celebrations organised by the KSCSTE and the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum (KSSTM) here on Friday.
“An amount of Rs.5 crore has been earmarked for the proposed institute which will work on technology deployment in the agriculture, forestry, industries, energy, drinking water, health and sanitation, natural resources management and environment sectors,” he said.
Pointing out that Kerala’s progress in frontier areas like biotechnology, nanotechnology and renewable energy sources had failed to match its achievements in the IT sector, he called for steps to bridge the gap.
“The science and technology sector in Kerala has failed to address the environmental problems caused by a booming population, urbanisation and consumerism. Drinking water scarcity, garbage accumulation and energy shortage are major problems that remain to be solved,” he said.
Mr. Chandy said finding technological solutions to the problems faced by the common man was as important as atomic energy and space science. “We need to step up research activities aimed at sustainable development,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Centre- State Institute for Technology Transfer, Srinivasa Ramanujan Institute for Basic Sciences (SRIBS) and the Science and Technology Based Skill Development Centre were part of the government’s policy aimed at promoting science for development. He added that the policy focussed on maximum encouragement for young scientists.
Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, executive vice-president, KSCSTE, presided over the function.
Dr. V. Ajit Prabhu, Joint Director, KSCSTE, Dr. K. K Ramachandran, Member Secretary, Dr. S. Sheela, Principal, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, A. J. Prakash, Director, KSSTM and Binuja Thomas, Scientific Officer, KSCSTE also spoke.
As part of the State-wide NTD celebrations, KSCSTE is organising technical sessions, invited lectures and quiz programmes in 40 government and government sponsored self-financing engineering colleges across Kerala.
