On 20 July 2019, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, the Hon’ble Minister of HRD, Government of India, visited the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
On his arrival, he held a meeting with the Director, Prof. Anurag Kumar, and Deans, Deputy Directors, Divisional Chairs, and the Registrar. Prof. Kumar briefed the Minister on IISc’s history, its structure, and current academic and research programs. His presentation highlighted IISc’s contributions to nation building over the past 110 years, which includes the formative years of ISRO, TIFR, BARC and India’s atomic energy program, leadership of the first IIT, India’s missile program and the LCA. Prof. Kumar spoke about the large number of recognitions obtained by the IISc faculty members, some of the contemporary research themes, the continued contributions to the nation and society, and the recent emphasis of start-ups. He also briefed the Minister about the new IISc campus in Challakere, and how the Institute’s program on Teachers’ Training conducted there is having a transformative impact on science education in Karnataka’s schools.
The Minister then addressed the gathering of IISc administrators, faculty members and students. He acknowledged the towering role that IISc has played in the field of science and technology in the country. He also complemented the faculty members and students for their top-notch research achievements and for IISc’s global standing. He then urged them to continue their excellent work keeping in mind the common man of India, and to work together to solve the problems of the common man.
The Minister reminded the gathering that, in the days of Nalanda and Takshashila, scholars from all around the world came to India to study and gain knowledge in various fields. He urged the IISc scholars to lead the effort in making India a global knowledge leader once again. He singled out IISc as the pride of the nation and asked its students to pursue excellence without any inhibition. The Minister assured the gathering that he and the Ministry would stand by and support IISc in its initiatives.
The Minister then visited the state-of-the-art nanofabrication laboratory at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE). He was deeply impressed by the world-class facilities of CeNSE, the work that its researchers were carrying out and the extensive outreach program that the Centre was running. He assured full support for all its activities, and complemented the faculty members and students for their world-class work. At the end of the visit, he penned down a glowing tribute to IISc in Hindi in the CeNSE guestbook.
