Dr. Dev Vrat Kamboj, Scientist ‘G’, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, and Former Director, Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur, visited Amity University Noida campus to deliver a talk on “Northeast India: Challenges and Opportunities”. The objective of the talk was to draw actionable insights in Northeast Region that can further strengthen Amity’s academic, research, and outreach initiatives in the region, while also aligning them with national missions and regional development frameworks.
While delivering his talk, Dr. Dev Vrat Kamboj, averred, “Northeast region is rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, limestone and has a lot of scope for hydropower generation. The literacy rate is also 78.5% and gender gap is the minimum in Meghalaya. Agriculture is the primary sector in the northeast region with 60% of the population dependent on agriculture and allied activities such as fishery, livestock, poultry, etc. However, there are challenges of fragmented land holdings, due to population growth, inheritance growth and hill topography which leads to low mechanization, subsistence farming, and poor market access.”
Dwelling upon the solutions to these challenges and opportunities for R&D in this region, he further added, “The potential solutions include land consolidation, cooperative farming, cooperative input purchase and modern farming extension. There are a lot of opportunities for R&D in this region since the region is still unexplored, however the people in this region have a closed mindset and therefore they are unable to accept new reforms, which are imposed upon them. The need of the hour is to sensitize them and create awareness about the scope of research and development in various sectors. The researchers must work together with the local communities, understand their problems and find innovative solutions.”
Dr. AK Singh, Senior Vice President, Amity Foundation for Science Technology and Innovation Alliance (AFSTIA), stated, “Under the visionary leadership and guidance of our Honourable Founder President Sir, and the active involvement of Amity Researchers working in the Northeastern Region, the Amity Northeastern Mission is advancing with great momentum. The highly focused expert talk by Dr. Kamboj will address the potential opportunities, and futuristic challenges of the Northeast, with specific emphasis on Livelihood Enhancement, Energy Security, Sustainable Agriculture, and Health Technologies.”
Also present on the occasion were Dr. Neeraj Sharma, Deputy Director General, AFSTIA, senior scientists and researchers of Amity.