Govt asked to maintain transparency, accountability in fund use
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, October 05 2021: Commending contribution of the Indian scientific community in the nation building process and stating that progress of the country rests in the hands of the scientists, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has exhorted the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal to strive for proper management of the rich bio-resources available in the northeast region.

Addressing the gathering at a national seminar on 'Bio-economy from Bio-resources of North Eastern Region of India' organised by IBSD at its Takyelpat complex on Tuesday, he also advised the government of Manipur to focus on important areas like health, education, agriculture, communication and connectivity to accelerate development in the region along with asking the state to encourage and the youth to take up different sports.

Emphasising on development of road and proper connectivity in the North Eastern region for overall development of the region, the Vice President said development activities in the North Eastern states will reap fruit if funds provided by the Centre for various projects are utilised with transparency and accountability.

Development of the country is incomplete without the development of North East.

Communication should be strengthened in the North East, he maintained.

Strongly advocating transparency and corruption-free governance, Naidu said that funds meant for the poor should reach them without any diversion or dilution.

Noting importance of using mother tongue in administration, he called for providing information on development schemes to villagers in local language.

The Vice President opined that rational thinking and scientific temper are the cornerstones of a progressive nation.

"You are endowed with the requisite education, training, focus and discipline to apply pragmatic scientific knowledge for fast-tracking the country's all-round development," he said to the scientists present.

Stressing that India's development is incomplete without development of the North Eastern Region, VP Naidu said that the Central government has been according priority to the North East by adopting a multi-dimensional approach for the all-round development of the region.

Calling upon the states and the Centre to work in the true spirit of Team India for growth and prosperity, he also asserted that peace is a prerequisite to progress and there cannot be any compromise on the unity and integrity of the nation.

As the North-Eastern region is a biodiversity Hotspot with its rich variety of eco-systems the IBSD needs to manage the bio-resources of the region for sustainable development adopting modern biotechnological tools.

He also urged the researchers and scientists to work shoulder to shoulder along with other important groups to make India a Vishwaguru once again.

Earlier, while inaugurating the Phyto-pharmaceutical Lab Facility at IBSD, he expressed elation that the institution under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is promoting the Phyto-pharmaceutical Mission of North-Eastern Region.

Stating that the Mission aims to promote the documentation, scientific validation and evaluation of traditional healthcare practices, he also commended ISBD for focusing on the promotion of startups based on the development of herbal medicinal products such as AYUSH drugs, Phyto-pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, among others.

As the Phyto-pharmaceutical Mission will focus mainly on therapeutic areas like antiviral, anti-bacterial, anti fungal and insect repellents, it would definitely help in popularising traditional healthcare practices and aid in the development of effective alternative herbal medicines to combat diseases like Covid-19."I am certain that the move to target high quality volatile oil producing plants under this programme will attract more farmers to commercial cultivation of aromatic plants of this region," he maintained.

The Vice President exuded confidence that transformational approaches in developing products, processes and technologies with local bio-resources will help in development of traditional knowledge-based therapeutic agents leading to the socio economic development of the region as well as benefits to traditional health care practitioners.

He also appreciated IBSD's initiatives in ensuring quality standards of food and water in the North Eastern Region.

The Vice President also visited the recently established Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) facility at the Institute and praised IBSD's role in combating the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Naidu said through the INSACOG network, the entire genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 virus across the nation can be tracked consequently aiding in understanding how the virus spreads and evolves.

Complimenting IBSD for its sterling efforts to sequence the SARS CaV 2 positive samples, he maintained that the laboratory in Manipur is a big leap in the collective fight against the novel coronavirus.

He congratulated IBSD director Prof Pulok Kumar Mukherjee for his efforts and also appreciated IBSD's numerous outreach programmes to ensure that the fruits of its research reach the common people of this region.

As guest of honour of the laboratory inauguration function, Governor La Ganesan congratulated all the Scientists and Researchers of IBSD and made a special request to the authorities of the newly inaugurated laboratory to reach out to far flung rural areas where medical facilities are almost nil or minimum and to those people residing who are economically backward.

The basic objective of this Phytopharmaceutical Lab is to provide quality medical facility.

The medical facilities in the North Eastern region including Manipur are insufficient compared to other metropolitan cities.

The region is directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is our belief that we are going to overcome the challenge but it will take some time, he said.

In his presidential address, chief minister N Biren stressed that the North-East region is blessed with rich biodiversity.

The State government is committed to protect the environment and ecology and has been making various efforts for protecting forests thereby increasing the Protected Area Networks.

State Botanical Garden and Biodiversity Parks have been established for protecting and conserving the local species.

State Biodiversity Board and Manipur State Wetlands Authority are also functioning.

He also stated that he was delighted to learn that IBSD has taken up several researches on bioresources available in the region.

The newly developed laboratory will help in documenting large number of medicinal plants of the North East region.

Scientific validations and characterization of bioactive compounds have tremendous significance for nutraceuticals and drug development.

He expressed happiness that IBSD has also made significant contributions to the people in the region during the pandemic by providing manpower and RT-PCR to-strengthen testing capacity.

It is commendable.that IBSD initiated the Genome sequencing facility for Corona virus for the first time in NE India.

The state government looks forward to its continued collaboration with the Institute, he added.

The National seminar was organised in commemoration of 75 years of India's independence (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav).

The function was also attended by the council of minister, MLAs, Prof Pulok Kumar Mukherjee, ISBD scientist Dr Nanaocha Sharma and others.

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