NEW DELHI, July 14 - The Assam Government has urged the Centre to establish regional centres of the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in the State.
Keshab Mahanta, Minister for Science and Technology, Information Technology and Water Resources, Government of Assam, made the demand when he called on the Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh, recently and discussed issues related to priority projects of the Assam Government in the fields of Science and Technology and IT.
Mahanta submitted a memorandum for establishing regional centres of the IIRS and IIST in Assam. Dr Singh said that he would process the request and ask the scientists in the Department of Space to collaborate with the State Government to work out the feasibility of the proposal.
Dr Singh said that he had also suggested to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that the services of the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre (ARSAC) should be utilised to a greater extent in the field of urban development and construction of smart cities. The NESAC (North-Eastern Space Application Centre) in Shillong can also be asked to collaborate with the Government�s initiatives in Guwahati, he added.
Mahanta expressed the BJP Government�s keenness to bring Assam on a par with other States of the country in terms of the application of Science and Technology, remote sensing and satellite technology. He also said that ISRO chairman, AS Kiran Kumar, had visited Assam and discussed various applications of science in governance and development projects, official sources said.
Dr Singh explained how in the Ministry of DoNER he had introduced the use of satellite imaging not only for the survey of roads and building construction, but also for the preparation of utilisation certificates with foolproof accuracy, which not only helps in saving time, but also reduces the possibility of any manipulation or manoeuvring.
