Dream 2047, April 2000 Issue

TRIPURA WORKSHOP ON SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

"Society is facing many conflicts today due to the growing demands of civilisation, and science should bridge the gap between these conflicts and civilisation." This was one of the many comments made by Shri Manik Sarkar, honourable Chief Minister of Tripura, while inaugurating the three-day workshop on Science Communication, organised by Vigyan Prasar at Agartala during March 22-24, 2000. With the objective of assessing the current status of popular science movement in Tripura and taking necessary steps for meaningful interventions where necessary and possible, Vigyan Prasar organised this workshop and invited representatives from various government, semi-government, voluntary and non-government organisations, academic institutions and the media on a common platform for concerted and co-ordinated efforts in the future. Well over one hundred participants from all over this small state converged on Sukanta Academy, a premier centre for culture, science & technology in Agartala, on 22 March at 10 AM. Shri Sanjay Banerjee, Fellow (VP) at Agartala, welcomed participants and outlined the objectives of the workshop. Shri N.C. Deb Barman, Station Director of All India Radio, Agartala in his brief address as the Guest of Honour quite rightly pointed out that Tripura does not lack in voluntary spirit and enthusiasm for popular science activities. There has to be a right mix of activities and awareness for the people and he assured full participation of AIR. The Chief Guest, Shri Manik Sankar, spoke on a number of relevant issues like role of S&T in societal development and compartmentalisation of science and subsequent loss of motivation of students for science. He also asserted that printed literature, due to its permanent value, still reigned supreme among the means of science communication. In his presidential address, Dr. Narender K. Sehgal, Director, VP, explained very clearly the role of VP and the reasons for gearing up activities in Tripura. He urged the state government to fully computerise its operations and all its higher secondary schools to start with, besides opening science clubs in every school of the state. The smallness of Tripura could be converted into an advantage by Tripura becoming the first state in the country to do so _ was the message conveyed to the participants by Vigyan Prasar. Dr. Subodh Mahanti of VP offered a vote of thanks at the end. The deliberations on 22 March were mainly devoted to the views expressed by selected organisations and individuals of Tripura encompassing all avenues of science communication. Notable participants who steered the proceedings were Prof. M.K. Deb, Vice Principal of Maharaja Bir Bikram College (Agartala); Dr. A.K. Bhattacharjee, President of Tripura Chemical Society; Prof. S.Sar, Vice President of Tripura Mathematical Society; Shri Diganta Basu of the Centre for Social Work & Research; Shri M.L. Roy of the Tripura State Council for S&T; Prof. N. Roy of S.C.E.R.T., Tripura; Shri B. Pal of Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala; Shri S.K. Jamal of Akashvani, Agartala; Shri Debananda Daam, an independent publisher of popular science books and journals, etc. Very interesting facts turned up through these speakers and the audience took keen interest in the deliberations. Shri A.K. Misra, Fellow of Vigyan Prasar, summed up the entire proceedings for the day and requested the speakers and other participants to forward concrete suggestions for improving the state of affairs in science clubs, media writing, Children's Science Congress and similar activities in the state. The second day's proceedings started with brief remarks by Dr. Sehgal, who outlined the outcome that VP was looking for at the end of the workshop and urged participants to be more focussed and specific. A great deal of the first session of the day - was given to discussing a few success stories of the state. Children from local schools and students from the Institute of Mass Communication (Agartala) actively participated during the second & third days providing a very interesting dimension to the workshop. Teachers in-charge of many VIPNET clubs spoke about their activities during the second session. On 24 March, proceedings began with an interesting session on motivational aspects and behavioural dynamics, conducted by Shri Sanjay Banerjee. The students were very participative during this session. Before the valedictory function, the workshop concluded with the drawing up of recommendations and identification of activities in a phased manner. The activities to be undertaken by VP may be put in the following points : 1. Bringing out a set of 5/6 popular science books in Kokborok, the native language spoken by some 29% of the population. 2. Starting a VP feature service for newspapers with a target of atleast 12 articles per month. 3. Going ahead jointly with AIR Agartala for producing a need-based Science weekly Serial for 6 months to start with. 4. Organisation of workshops in other major towns of the state, besides Agartala, for training of resource persons for various activities. The valedictory function was attended by Shri Jitendra Kr. Choudhary, Minister of Science & Technology, Sports & Youth Affairs, Transport etc. of Tripura. Shri Misra, Fellow (VP), gave a brief report on the workshop at the beginning of the session which was conducted by Dr. S. Mahanti. Shri Choudhary in his remarks outlined the status of S&T in Tripura vis-a-vis schools and their science clubs. He appreciated the initiative of VP in Tripura and reiterated that his department would be committed to helping these activities in all possible ways. Dr. Mahanti expressed VP's gratitude to the dignitaries and participants for their unstinted support to the workshop. While VP would immediately go ahead to implement the recommendations drawn up in the first phase, a group of experts in Tripura would monitor these and help drawing up an agenda for future activities to be undertaken by VP. Shri Sanjay Banerjee proposed a formal vote of thanks at the end of this three-day workshop.

(Arup K. Misra)