Set up hydrological studies and disaster-control centre: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has urged the 'Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati' (IITG) to set up a dedicated centre on 'Hydrological Studies and Disaster Control' as the institute has all the expertise in these areas. At the same time, the Chief Minister also urged the graduating students of IIT-G to consider setting up startups in the State for which the State government will extend the necessary support in these endeavours. The Chief Minister made these appeals while addressing the 22nd convocation of IITG — as a special guest through a video conference.

He pointed out that as a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Act East Policy' the Northeast region is fast emerging as the nerve centre of India's economic activity. This has opened up new doors of opportunities in communication, transportation, trade and business, tourism, cultural exchange, sports, information technology, agriculture among many other sectors to link the Northeast with the ASEAN and the BBN countries.

Lauding IITG for its role towards 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and helping Assam in its drive for self-sustainability, Chief Minister Sonowal said that as an offshoot of the historic Assam Accord, the IITG has not only fostered an environment of academic excellence in the entire country with its quality technical education over the years, it has also lent its hands in making self reliant nation. He further said that since at the moment the society is going through difficult times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, IIT Guwahati has played its role in fighting the pandemic by providing various sophisticated instruments to the 'National Health Mission, Assam' and by developing, manufacturing and commercializing all the COVID-19-related kits in the State.

He pointed out that with every passing year, floods and erosion, landslides, storms, earthquake etc., have become more intense and recurrent in the State. Since 1950 when the great earthquake jolted Assam, sudden change of river course and large-scale erosion has claimed several lakh hectares of land across the State. This makes it imperative to develop an organized setup to carry out dedicated scientific study on the characteristics and behaviours of the river system in the State.

To promote industrialization, the State government has also come up with a new policy on tax incentives for setting up industries and tourism units; and also formulated policies in sectors like the IT, biotech, startup, sugar, solar energy, besides the 'Assam Industrial Investment Policy' among others. He, therefore, requested the graduates of IIT Guwahati with their innovative ideas, knowledge and skill to join the startup movement unleashed by the government to exploit the market potential of the State and serve 800 million population spread across the north-eastern States of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the ASEAN countries.

He also made it clear that his government will extend full support to the endeavours of the new graduates for setting up industries and startup ventures in Assam.

The Chief Minister also said that in the past two and half decades, the State has been immensely benefitted from the expertise of the institute in disaster preparedness and risk reduction,

Congratulating all the students on receiving degrees at the convocation, Chief Minister Sonowal said that IIT-G, though relatively new in comparison to the first five IITs of the country, has produced globally competitive human resources and carried out researches that significantly benefitted the society. He also said that if this impressive journey continues, IIT Guwahati will grow to global prominence and the graduates of this institute would lead the State and the nation in every sphere of life, stated a release.

Also watch: Assam Celebrates World Rhino Day