Manipur Minster for Education, labour and Employment Thokchom Radheshyam visited the Institute of life Sciences (IlS) on Wednesday. Interacting with the scientists and students, the Minister urged for support from the IlS in the area of advance research and capacity building. Complementing the efforts of ongoing research focus of IlS in the area of cancer research, infectious biology and plant and environment biotechnology, the Minister said that Manipur requires developing skilled human resources for undertaking socially relevant research for the benefit of the local people.
The Government of Manipur has developed an action plan focusing on both primary education as well as high quality scientific research. The Minister particularly suggested areas of secondary agriculture, value addition and water management as sectors requiring research collaboration.
The Minister emphasised that research on tribal population and traditional knowledge are of significance both for Odisha and Manipur and hoped that an IlS-IBSD centre could be established soon at IlS so that structured training and capacity building programmes can be undertaken.
Director, IlS Dr Ajay Parida briefed the Minister on the ongoing collaboration between IlS and IBSD in the area of bio resources conservation and enhancement, cancer biology, infectious disease including Japanese encephalitis and Malaria etc and hoped for further research collaborations. Director, IBSD Dr Dinabandu Sahoo spoke on emerging challenges in Manipur and said that IlS research scientists should work with IBSD scientists for solving some of these problems.