DIRANG, 19 Jan: An MoU was signed between the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and Arunachal Pradesh State Council for Science & Technology (APSCS&T), Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh for setting up of a Science Centre (Category-II) and Digital Planetarium (Category-II) in Dirang, West Kameng, on Friday.
The set-up cost of the upcoming science centre would be Rs. 26.70 crores and of the digital planetarium would be Rs. 15.60 crores.
While signing the MoU, R. Ronya IAS, Secretary, Science & Technology & State Lotteries, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, said, “This will be the third science centre in the state of Arunachal Pradesh after Itanagar and Namsai. While the Science Centre at Itanagar is already functional, an MoU was signed for setting up a science centre and planetarium at Namsai on 18th December 2023. The people of the eastern and western parts of Arunachal Pradesh will benefit from these science centres and planetaria.”
Samarendra Kumar, DDG, NCSM, said, “The science centre and planetarium would be set up under the Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Science (SPoCS) of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. NCSM is the implementing agency of the scheme, and so far, it has developed 23 science centres and handed them over to different state and UT governments.”
“As the development of the northeastern part of the country is a priority for the government, NCSM will be glad to set up science centres and planetaria in this part of the country. The science centres not only act as tourist destinations but also help develop scientific temperament in society,” said Shri A. D. Choudhury, Director General, NCSM.
C. D. Mungyak, Director cum Member Secretary, AP State Council for Science and Technology, Kajal Karmakar, Additional Resident Commissioner, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, Vijay Shankar Sharma, Director, NE Zone, NCSM and Subrata Kumar Mishra, Secretary, NCSM were also present on the occasion.