Chief minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, interacted with young scientists participating in the 17th National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) at the AUDA garden in Science City. The congress is being held in order to honour these young minds for their endeavour and also to show the state’s commitment towards promotion of research. The CM also posed for pictures with these children. The youngsters were overwhelmed by Modi’s gesture.

The NCSC which is being organised for the first time in Gujarat will conclude on December 31, 2009. The central theme of the event is ‘Planet Earth - Our Home; Explore, Care and Share’. Answering question raised by a student from Arunachal Pradesh, Modi said that earlier around 37 talukas in Gujarat did not have such science fairs. However, now all the talukas have this facility. “We also organise taluka- and district-level science competition and science fair every year in order to popularise the subject,” he added.

On Sunday, around 12,000 students from various schools of the state visited the exhibition and took part in the various activities held for general public. “During the technical sessions organised on the first day, over 150 child scientists made presentations on various interesting subjects, while the number was as high as 216 during the technical sessions arranged on Monday. The two workshops for teachers as well as the poster presentation programme, organised on Monday turned out to be a major attraction,” informed convener of the 17th NCSC and principal secretary, Science & Technology Department, Ravi Saxena.

“Some of the interesting subjects on which the child scientists made presentations include natural insect repellent, eco-friendly double-heated oven, a study on anthill, ‘Can a pollutant become a beneficial thing?’, preservation and storage of vegetables by solar energy, hidden secrets of tobacco, hydro-electric bike and study of the problems & remedies of salon waste: the hair,” Saxena said.

Considering the response evoked by the 17th NCSC, the event intends to act as a great stimulus for the popularisation of science among the students in the state. On a question asked by a curious student about the lack of IITs in the state, Modi replied that the education system in the state is need-based and hence a lack of institution doesn’t matter. Speaking on the occasion about autonomy for premier institutions, Prof. Yashpal said, “All the IIMs should be given an autonomous status and turned into full fledged universities so that they can operate smoothly and include programmes of study as per their convenience.”