New Delhi: Continuing with the trend initiated by him of holding joint meetings of different scientific streams in order to break the silos and evolve a synergistic integrated approach, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh Monday chaired a high level joint meeting of Science Ministries and departments, including Science & Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR, Earth Sciences, Space and Atomic Energy, wherein the Minister said that this year all the Science Ministries and Departments will jointly observe “National Technology Day” on May 11th, 2023.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that this is in keeping with the “whole of the government” approach suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his increasing emphasis from time to time of working in synergy and breaking silos between Ministries and Departments.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that National Technology Day, celebrated on 11th May in India, highlights the achievements of tech giants, researchers, and engineers in technology in our country.
This year, the focus theme of National Technology Day will be “Atal Tinkering Labs”, a path breaking initiative undertaken in 2016 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create and promote innovation StartUps and entrepreneurship via intervention at the level of school and teaching institutions, in a bid to ignite the young minds.
The Minister emphasised that India has witnessed explosive growth in technological advancements in the past 9 years, thanks to the landmark reforms undertaken by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. National Technology Day is the perfect occasion to acknowledge the effort of scientists and engineers as growth drivers, he said.
Apart from review of the preparations for the National Technology Day to be observed on 11th May, the agenda of today’s meet were discussion on Awards rationalisation, status update on the creation of Science Media Communication Cell (SMCC) and review of relaxation in age for technical staff for appointment in projects.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, once the Science Media Communication Cell (SMCC) comes into force, the success stories of all the departments must be compiled and disseminated to common people to create general awareness among all stakeholders about India’s Scientific Prowess.
He also directed that all Ministries and departments work together to disseminate information in regional languages, engage in creative content creation and preparation of daily news bulletins related to Science & Technology.
The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, Prof Ajay Kumar Sood and Secretaries of the Science Ministries and Departments, including Science & Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR, Earth Sciences, Space and Atomic Energy.