Dr Harsh Vardhan urges scientists to identify ten priority areas

New Delhi: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan has urged the scientists and senior officers of Ministries of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Department of Biotechnology to identify 10 priority areas and ensure ground-level implementation that result in time-bound and measurable results.

The Minister said that such an approach will pool and converge latest scientific and technical know-how, financial and human and infrastructural resources to maximize outcomes and outputs in sectors such as water management, air quality management, soil management, waste management, climate change, marine & coastal biodiversity, disruptive technologies, skill development and upgradation and international conventions/agreements.

It was decided at a meeting in New Delhi, chaired by Dr Harsh Vardhan, to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) for functional synergy of achieving time-bound goals in these areas. The JWG will be empowered to take decisions and nodal officers from all departments will meet every month, while the Minister will chair its quarterly meetings of such JWG.

“The focus of the JWG has to be not only creating technology but look at the entire delivery chain, where we are able to prove the technology and then scale it up”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said. “This requires convergence between one who has the technology and the other who needs the technology”, he added.

The Minister also suggested drawing up a plan for the 115 least developed districts that have been identified by NITI Aayog under the guidance of the Prime Minister and urged the 5 Ministries/Departments to ensure time-bound implementation.