Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has emphasised the need to break the mindset of “working in silos” and to work collectively towards developing synergy for technological solutions and for optimal utilization. Addressing the Inter-ministerial Coordination meeting of 5 Ministries/Departments headed by the Minister that took place at Indira Paryavaran Bhawan here today, Dr. Harsh Vardhan urged the concerned Ministries and departments to identify commonalities for technological solutions that can be taken to various stakeholders. He said that all sorts of problems can be solved through science, but the approach towards it needs to be changed in favour of collaborative efforts and developing synergies. The Minister added that an excellent synergy has already been developed within the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) and now the same has to be replicated with the MOEFCC also. Dr. Harsh Vardhan further stated that CSIR, DST, DBT and MOES have excellent research capabilities and the Environment Ministry can be benefited from this.
Underlining the need to formulate well-defined goals and time-bound actions, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that a working group will be formed and MoEFCC will work as a secretariat, while each of the Ministries will nominate its nodal officers. He strongly emphasized the need to come up with results over the next one year. The Minister also stated that meetings of the joint working group will be held every month and a quarterly meeting will be held at the Minister’s level. However, he also pointed out that the meeting will be attended by all concerned project groups of all the Ministries. Recollecting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, talking of “Scientific Social Responsibility”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan averred that there is an urgent need to put science to use for the benefit of people. He urged the scientists and the senior officers present at the meeting to also work out innovative solutions and projects for 115 aspirational districts to improve their Human Development Index (HDI). Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri C.K Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research & DG, CSIR, Dr. Girish Sahni, Secretary, DBT, Prof. K.Vijay Raghavan DG, Forest, and Special Secretary, MoEF&CC, Dr. Siddhant Das, DG, IMD, Dr. K.J Ramesh, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Shri S.P.S Parihar and other senior officers of the 5 Ministries/Departments were among those who attended the meeting.