Union Minister Jitendra Singh lays foundation stone of ‘Technology Facility Center’ in Assam
Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, laid the foundation stone for new the “Technology Facility Centre” (TFC) in the premises of CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) in Jorhat, Assam on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will bear the cost of setting up this new science centre and has allocated Rs 40 crore for its construction.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the northeast region has vast scientific reserves to be explored. He said he was happy the Ministry of DoNER had come forward to help the Department of Science & Technology (S&T) and CSIR to institutionalise the technical applications to promote research as well as job creation.
He hoped the new TFC will prove to be a boon for the aspiring youth and will emerge as a Center of Excellence for all the eight northeast states as well as the rest of India.
Singh referred to “North-Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project” (NERCORMP) and “North East Rural Livelihood Project” (NERLP), the two programmes run by the Ministry of DoNER and NEC, which were devoted to the cause of improving livelihood opportunities for unemployed youth, farmers, women and artisans.
He expressed hope that the new centre will serve as a technical and interventional catalyst to fast-track growth, which could eventually enable the northeastern states to equal the success rate of some of the western states in India.
Present on this occasion were Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, member of the Lok Sabha from Jorhat, Dr S Chattopadhyaya, director, CSIR-NEIST, Dr GNQazi, chairman, Research Council, Ram Muivah, secretary, NEC (North-Eastern Council), and Dr Pardeshi Lal, vice-chancellor of Nagaland University.