Financial constraints imposed by the government have forced the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) to tighten the budget for the 27th Kerala Science Congress (KSC) and truncate the annual event scheduled to be held in Alappuzha from January 27.
The initial estimate of Rs.1.5 crore has been cut by Rs.60 lakh and the four-day event curtailed to three days. According to B.G. Sreedevi, chairperson of the organising committee, the government had issued directions to keep the KSC budget within Rs.90 lakh. This follows the austerity measures to tackle the financial situation in the State.
The major casualty of the belt-tightening exercise is a special session on GIS and remote sensing. The session that was to be organised in collaboration with the UNEP has been cancelled after the organising committee conveyed its limitations in hosting the experts from outside the State. The UNEP, however, says the decision was prompted by poor response.
According to Muralee Thummarukudy, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction, UNEP, the idea behind the session was to create a network of professionals from Kerala in the area of remote sensing and use it to promote better understanding about the application potential of the technology. “However, even after three months of intensive lobbying, we could not ensure good participation of professionals.”
Another parallel session on Technology Innovation and Adaptation that was planned to be organised in association with the State-Centre Resource Institute for Partnerships in Technology (SCRIPT) has also been cancelled.
Officials, however, said efforts were on to ensure that the limited budget did not affect the quality of the three-day event. As many as 980 delegates have registered for the Science Congress with the focal theme on traditional industries.