Capacity Building Commission and Office of PSA meets States S&T Depts

Building an Atmanirbhar Bharat of the future will require research institutions, government, and industry to work as one entity, bringing new technologies to the citizen. Encouraged by the vision of the Hon’ble MoS, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the science and technology departments of the Government of India are reaching out to their counterparts in the states, as part of this effort to build connections across all levels of government, industry, and academia.

Capacity Building Commission (CBC) and Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India jointly called for a virtual session involving S&T departments and councils of all states to discuss the need for working knowledge of new-age technologies, process improvements, reskilling or upskilling and human resource development. The session was held on February 9, 2022, between 1440 hours to 1715 hours.

This session is the very first step in the design and improvement of both service delivery and a robust collaborative mechanism between the centre and state-level science institutions. In addition to this, a dedicated Science, Technology and Innovation Capacity Building Cell has been set up (at O/o PSA/CBC) to address current barriers in technology adoption in government service delivery, promote industry participation in R&D activities, and support states in building human resource capacity around futuristic technologies.

The session began with opening remarks by Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Adviser, Department of Science & Technology. “Effort to solve last-mile problems is very necessary, strengthening Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ecosystem, a clearer objective to use science and technology to cater to national challenges is highly imperative. State-level STI policy assures of positive times for collaborative efforts”, said Dr. Gupta.

Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Distinguished PSA Fellow, O/o PSA to GoI and Head of CB-STI Cell reiterated the need for a coherent approach in building capacities involving scientists, academicians, and institutions to further improve the science and technology landscape of emerging India. He stated, “States need to be better connected and empowered to handle pandemic-like situations, as the current times demand a coherent approach. Technology-led innovation is very important to deliver citizen-centric services to realize Atmanirbhar Bharat. India and its states are promoting a thriving startup ecosystem and this needs to be put to its best use.”

Shri Hemang Jani, Secretary, CBC shared his views on the need to develop mechanisms for innovation exchange within India to solve sectoral challenges and explore synergies between states and their resources to better learning and quicker application of solutions. “The STI ecosystem is a team-work of different stakeholders such as academia and enterprises. Together, the ecosystem supports various stages of development in the life-cycle of any technology. Bringing the science departments of central and state governments on the same table can be the best foot forward towards leveraging science and technology for good”, said Shri Jani.

Representatives from 26 states presented their expectations from this collaborative exercise and their sector-specific needs and desired technological interventions. State-level challenges in sectors included technology in agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy, waste management, nanotechnology, etc.

The closing remarks were delivered by Principal Scientific Adviser, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, who applauded efforts made by all the states in collating their respective state’s action points and urged that innovation be put to better use to deliver last-mile services across India. “Sound policy decisions need to depend on data both from state and national levels. Such resources are critical to understanding the national issues and the Office of PSA and CBC will need to have more interactions to understand the ground realities from all across India,” he emphasized.

About Capacity Building Commission (CBC) – Capacity Building Commission was set up to coordinate and supervise all government offices, training institutes and to monitor and evaluate the implementation of plans and create shared resources to improve governance. This also ensures a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity-building ecosystem on a collaborative and co-sharing basis.