New Delhi, May 11 (Mayank Nigam) Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said science, technology and innovation are going to be the key determinants of the roadmap for the next 25 years when the country celebrates its 100 years of independence. He asserted that the future belongs to a technology driven economy. The Minister made the statement while speaking at an event organised on the occasion of ‘National Technology Day’. India celebrates National Technology Day on May 11 every year as it was on this day in 1998 that the country successfully conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests. Stating that there is an urgent need to build an ‘innovation ecosystem’ for the start-ups as there is no dearth of talent and resources in the country, Singh emphasised to adopt an integration approach, rather than acting in silos. On the occasion, the Minister gave away awards to seven most successful start-ups for their pioneering work in areas like quantum data security, covid testing kits, A-I powered robot for electronic assembly, cryogenic technologies and cyber security systems besides awards to women scientists in Translational Research and Women Entrepreneurs, and the national awards for successful commercialisation of indigenous technology and award under MSME category.
He pledged complete support to the start-ups and promised full financial support. The Minister also launched the scientific social responsibility (SSR) and scientific research infrastructure sharing maintenance and networks (SRIMAN) guidelines, and said, “SSR as an institutional mechanism is a significant step to reach out to the widest-spectrum of stakeholders of science and technology with knowledge, human resources and infrastructure to make an effective use of existing assets for the benefit of society. ”
He said in tune with the spirit of CSR to earmark some profit for public service, SSR will enable sharing of knowledge and infrastructure. On SRIMAN guidelines, Singh said with the aim to adopt a new approach that can make research infrastructure (RI) available to all stakeholders, the Department of Science and Technology formulated a draft of the SRIMAN guidelines through a detailed stakeholder consultation. “The SRIMAN guidelines aims to promote efficient utilisation and wider access of RI to scientists, researchers and industry professionals across the country by creating a network of relevant stakeholders,” he said. He further said, “India in the recent years has witnessed growth in acquisition of research equipment and more than 90 per cent of high-end equipment are imported. Majority of such equipment is not shared and marred with maintenance issues and lack of spares which adds to the burden of RI costs. In addition, access to equipment and its proper utilisation also needs attention.” Manufacturing of indigenous instruments to reduce dependency on imports is also essential along with human resource development for operations and management of RI, the Minister added.