Khurshid Ganai red flags environmental issues in Kashmir

Srinagar, Dec 24: Former IAS officer and Advisor to the Governor Khurshid Ahmed Ganai warned of serious environmental consequences in Kashmir if infrastructural development projects in Jammu and Kashmir are taken up without the environmental impact assessment ( EIA) and considerations.

He was speaking in a seminar at the Department of Environmental Sciences , University of Kashmir, on the government's science policy and the need to have a futuristic science policy to improve science education at all levels, research, innovation and entrepreneurship in Jammu and Kashmir. Ganai emphasised on the need to build up scientific temper in the society and training of the youth in new technologies to impart skills that will get them jobs and enable them to be innovators and entrepreneurs.

He said that Jammu and Kashmir had a late start with computer science education and information technology (IT) in comparison to rest of the country and the world and the same should not happen in respect of new technologies like AI, robotics, fintech and other emerging technologies which are already in use in many parts of the world.

Ganai repeatedly stressed on education, capacity development, need for a dynamic science, technology and innovation policy ( STIP) with the government and supportive schemes for innovation and entrepreneurship in Jammu and Kashmir. He complimented the union government for one nation, one subscription scheme ( ONOS) to make top journals available online free of cost to over 6000 institutions in the country and the new scheme of YUVA of J&K government which is in the pipeline and for which more than 1800 crore have been reportedly earmarked by the government as its share apart from the credit that will flow from the financial institutions to enable the educated youth to set up their own enterprises and startups.

The seminar at KU was attended by the university and college faculty, researchers and students. Ganai was one of the key speakers to take part in the seminar today which started yesterday.