Thursday, 27 July | Paritosh Kimothi | DEHRADUN
UCOST developing science & technology ecosystem in State, says DG
The Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST) is working towards building a science and technology ecosystem in the State with steps like the nation’s fifth Science City and various other initiatives. Talking to The Pioneer, the UCOST
director general Durgesh Pant said that steps like building the Science City in Dehradun, facilitating lab on wheels, drafting the model district plan and opening science centres in various parts of the State will help build a new ecosystem which will not only boost brand Uttarakhand but also help in effectively addressing various major problems faced by the State. “The Science City which is expected to be ready in three to four years on about 25 acres of land at a cost of about Rs 200 crore will be a hub of innovations, lectures, exhibits and other aspects of science and technology. We are also working on opening science centres in Almora, Champawat and Tehri which will boost our plan to develop a science corridor in the State. These developments will also fuel science tourism in Uttarakhand apart from providing new opportunities to youngsters. Even now, the Vigyan Dham in Dehradun has many interesting features which I would encourage adults to visit and view with their children.”
Pant further said that other works of the council like the artificial intelligence lab in Dehradun and lab on wheels will help make Uttarakhand a science and technology-developed State. Referring to the stance of the State government he said, “The State government under chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has displayed the political will to encourage science and technology. It recently granted funds for the lab on wheels project as part of which properly equipped laboratories in vans in each district will visit even remote rural areas and provide children the opportunity to learn and conduct experiments. Apart from this, the government also made UCOST the nodal agency for preparing the model district plan, which is currently being prepared for Champawat district. Work done by the council so far on this has been appreciated even by the Department of Science and Technology and we are working in coordination with the office of the principal scientific adviser, Government of India, ISRO, CSIR and other institutions.”
On the larger picture when it comes to science and technology, he stated that it encompasses everyone. “We need to connect the dots, build a mindset and develop systems to ensure effective coordination which will also enable the State to resolve the challenges which it is facing.” On the subject of traditional knowledge, Pant said that it is a treasure which was, is and will always remain precious. “Traditional knowledge is our backbone. Our DNA has knowledge which we need to fine-tune.
In order to capitalise on traditional knowledge using modern science, UCOST is trying to create an informatics database on traditional knowledge. We are also working on Vedic informatics with Dev Sanskriti university.The council is also pursuing work on AI and quantum readiness,” the DG said.
On the subject of various important scientific, research and development institutions of the Central government in Dehradun, Pant said that there are at least two dozen such institutions. “For the first time, we facilitated a meeting of the representatives of all these institutions with the State authorities earlier in January this year. They are also interested in contributing to the welfare of Uttarakhand.”
