SHILLONG: Union minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday the Centre was keen on opening more bio-resource centres in the North East, which is highly bio-diverse, and the process would be completed in two years.
Vardhan, who is the minister of science and technology as well as forests, environment and climate change, was in the city to inaugurate the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) Meghalaya in Upper Shillong.
He said IBSD was set up to identify the rich biodiversity and unique bio-resources of the state that can boost bio-economy and generate jobs for the unemployed youth through bio-entrepreneurship.
State Urban Affairs Minister Hamlet Dohling, while asserting that Meghalaya has the potential to contribute to the nation’s growth in terms of natural resources, pointed out that a spurt in population growth has adversely affected the biodiversity in the state.
“We must judiciously harness the bio-resources and sustainable development is being seen as the only way forward to pass on a secure future to the coming generations,” he added.
Dohling also called upon all stakeholders to work together with IBSD to take protect and preserve the biodiversity by creating awareness.
Earlier, IBSD Director Dinabandhu Sahoo said the main mandate of the institute is the conservation and sustainable utilisation of bio-resources for the socio-economic development of the region. The Union minister said he would write to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on developing an orchidarium on the IBSD premises.
Talking to media persons here after inaugurating the institute, he said the orchidarium would augment the ability and experience of farmers. Citing the case of Manipur “where similar initiatives have worked very well”, Vardhan said youths can be trained to be entrepreneurs.
An orchidarium is an area in a park or botanical garden dedicated to orchids.
“We have told the director of the institute to take the best support of the state government and I have asked even the local minister for land for expansion of the campus,” he said.
Tech in India
The minister said the country has achieved “great deal of name and fame” in science and technology and it is sixth in terms of science publication, third in terms of nano-technology and fourth in weather forecast.
“We are comparable with the best in the world,” he said while adding that the fruit of science must be delivered to the people of the country.
On the lines of the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, coined by second prime minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri, Vardhan said the country should also talk about ‘Jai Vigyan’.
He urged the people of Meghalaya to develop a social movement through Green Good Deeds by undertaking one ‘green good deed’ a day by strengthening the bio-resources and developing a sustainable development programme. The list of Green Good Deeds can be accessed through App, he added.