Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Monday asked the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology (PSCST) to undertake an energy audit of all government buildings and educational institutions in the state.The move is aimed at promoting energy conservation, while, at the same time, cutting down on the hefty expenditure on electricity, currently being incurred at these buildings.The Chief Minister issued the orders while chairing the 13th meeting of Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC) Society here, according to an official spokesperson.Expressing concern over the reckless energy consumption in Government buildings/ institutions/offices, the Chief Minister said the audit would help in saving electricity in the larger public interest, thereby leading to conservation of the dwindling energy resources.The Chief Minister’s directive came after Executive Director, PSCST Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, apprised the meeting of the energy audit carried out by the Council of the Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC), followed by implementation of various energy conservation measures at a meagre investment of Rs 1.7 lakh, that led to energy saving to the tune of Rs 12 lakh per annum. PGSC was awarded the National Energy Conservation Award by the President of India for the project.The council has also carried out energy audit of several other building complexes such as ‘Viraasat-E-Khalsa’, ‘The Tribune Complex’, ‘Mandi Board’, Inder Kumar Gujral ‘Punjab Technical University’, besides various industries.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also gave his approval to PGSC for the upgradation of its Science City theatre from 3D to 5D. He was informed that a gallery on Robotic Dinosaurs was being set up in PPP mode, while the IMAX FILM "Everest" was all set to be relaunched, on public demand, from June this year in the Space Theatre of the Science City.The Chief Minister was further apprised about various other programmes of the PGSC, including a Mobile Science exhibition for rural masses, door-step Night Sky Watching, and an Innovation Hub that provide facilities to youngsters to nurture new ideas and boost inquisitiveness.Captain Amarinder lauded the efforts of PGSC to infuse scientific temper among students, as evident from the fact that nearly 3.5 lakh students visited the Science City last year, of which 1.5 lakh were from Government Schools across the state under the 'Mukh Mantri Vigyan Yatra'. Secretary School Education said his department plans to arrange the visit of over 2 lakh Government school students during the current academic session.Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting were Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, ACS Higher Education S K Sandhu, ACS Technical Education M P Singh, Principal Secretary Science and Technology Dr. Roshan Sunkaria, Director Industries Mr. D P S Kharbanda, Director General/Member Secretary PGSC and DC Kapurthala Mohammad Tayyab, Secretary School Education Krishan Kumar, VC Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Dr. Raj Bahadur, VC Punjabi University, Patiala Dr. B S Ghuman, VC GNDU, Amritsar Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandhu, VC Central University of Punjab, Bathinda Dr. R K Kohli, Dean Colleges PAU, Ludhiana Dr. Guvinder Kaur Sangha and Dean IKGPTU Dr. Balkar Singh.