Rs 3 lakh each to be given to 50 research projects
SHILLONG, June 27: Scholars and researchers in Meghalaya now may have a reason to smile.
The state government on Thursday launched the website and the portal of Chief Minister Research Grant (CMRG) with a budget of Rs 3 lakh per research for 50 research projects initially.
The CMRG has been initiated with the objective of developing high quality research studies and meet progressive trajectory in line with the state’s current developmental initiatives.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said scholars and researchers can apply through the website and the portal to conduct research and documentation.
Pointing out that Meghalaya lacks research and documentations, he said research and documentations are a foundation.
He said many states and nations have stressed on documentation as it helps future generation to understand the past and make things better.
He said without it, things will not move forward in a scientific manner.
“Many of our scholars want to do research but there is no support. There is no dearth of individuals but there is no mechanism or platform to do it. This initiative is to support the researchers and the scholars,” Sangma said.
He urged scholars to apply and take advantage of it, stating that if they do not, then the entire programme will go to waste.
He further said that the state-level data centre is coming up and it is expected that all inputs will be readily available in cloud storage.
Art and Culture Minister Paul Lyngdoh said the CMRG will provide assistance to the individual researchers as well as those associated with institutes to enable them to do research.
Pointing out that there is a vast gap between what is known as evidence-based literature and what is scripted, he said, “A vast amount of it has been handed over to us through centuries of oral tradition. There is a huge potential to conduct studies and research in those areas.”
The Minister said that as the world moves towards digital platform and artificial intelligence, it is important for the indigenous society to come up with research-based material and therefore, the need for such grant was felt to enable individual scholars and institutes to conduct research in various fields.
“We are now in a position to dwell and go into that area which all along was neglected,” he said.
The CMRG aims to engage and encourage the citizens and scholars of the state to undertake quality research and documentation in various areas of interest that concerns the state with a particular focus on art and culture, heritage studies, and aspects that seek to study, document and further illuminate all matters and aspects relating to the land, language and lineage of the indigenous communities of the state and suggest meaningful and doable solutions to various issues and emerging challenges.