Union Home Minister Amit Shah Highlights Space Technology as Catalyst for NE Region’s Development at 12th NESAC Society Meeting in Agartala
Agartala, December 22. The 12th Meeting of the Society of North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Department of Space, Government of India, was held on 21st December 2024 at Agartala, Tripura.
The meeting was presided over by the Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, Mr. Amit Shah and was attended by the Union Minister of the Ministry of DoNER, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia Minister of State for the Ministry of DoNER, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar; Chief Ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura; the Secretary to the Home Ministry; and officials from the Dept. of Space, Ministry of DoNER, NEC, Chief Secretaries from NE states, and other members and invitees.
Secretary, Dept. of Space (DoS) and Chairman, ISRO, Dr. S. Somanath, who is also the Vice-President of the NESAC Society and Chairman of the NESAC Governing Council, welcomed the President, members, and all invitees to the meeting and felicitated the guests.
He assured continued support from ISRO/DoS in whatever way possible to support the states in development and governance. This was followed by a technical presentation by Dr. S. P. Aggarwal, Director, NESAC and Secretary of the Society, on the major achievements and scientific activities of the centre during the last year.
Home Minister Amit Shah applauded the diversity and quantum of work done by NESAC across all states and noted that the centre was on track to support the accelerated developmental process of the NE region of India.
He asked NESAC to expand its horizons further and increase its domain of activities relevant to the region. He was pleased to note that 109 departments from eight NE states were utilizing the services of NESAC and advised NESAC to proactively reach out to more departments and ensure that at least 25 departments from each state in the NE region utilize the space-based services provided by NESAC.
Shah also urged NESAC to brainstorm how the best practices of utilizing space technology across the globe could be integrated with existing systems in the NER to address the major problems faced by the region and submit related proposals to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
He suggested planning for the preparation of high-resolution digital elevation models, space-based support for minerals, oil, and coal reserves in the NE states, and extensive space-technology-based outreach and training activities covering students, women, and the tribal population of the NER.
The Chief Ministers present during the meeting thanked NESAC for the technical support provided to user departments through the state-level space application centres and remote sensing centres and briefed on the ongoing status and outcomes of the numerous projects undertaken under the Plan of Action activities.
They also requested NESAC to take up new projects in the areas of natural resource management, disaster management support, infrastructure planning, etc., relevant to their respective states.
NESAC Society is the apex body that decides the policy guidelines, all affairs, business, funds, etc., for NESAC and meets every year to review activities and guide future activities.
The 11th Meeting of the Society was held on 19th January 2024, while the last meeting (18th meeting) of the NESAC Governing Council was held on 17th December 2024 under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. Somanath.
