Mobile Science Exhibition’ — a bus consisting of science equipment and gadgetry — will tour all districts of Punjab, especially the rural areas, to impart scientific knowledge to the students.
The mobile exhibition was flagged off on Wednesday by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The exhibition would primarily target rural students and cover all the blocks in 22 districts of the State.
The project intends to reach at least one school in each block and staying there for two-three days to cater to clusters of schools in the neighbouring areas as well. The bus is highly decorated with equipment and state-of-the-art gadgetry to impart scientific knowledge about the celestial bodies and other universal operations.
Mobile Science Exhibition would help in broadening students’ outlook and vision thereby infusing a scientific temperament besides encouraging them to take up science and technology as their career, a senior Government official told the Chief Minister.
Badal said although a Science Express Train was initiated by the Centre, since it halts only at major railway stations, large number of rural area students may get deprived of such scientific and technological exhibitions.
Therefore, the idea of Mobile Science Exhibition was conceived to reach to the majority of rural youth, he said.
The Chief Minister said that this initiative would motivate the students from rural background to develop a scientific bend of mind.
He lauded the efforts of Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, for initiating the exhibition jointly with IK Gujral Punjab Technical University and Union Department of Science and Technology.
With the motive to inculcate scientific temper amongst the youth of the State, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday flagged off a bus depicting Mobile Science Exhibition.
Notably, the Punjab Government sponsors the visit of Government school students every year and has thus facilitated the visit of more than two lakh such students so far to the Science City.
The State Principal Secretary of Department of Science, Technology and Environment G Vajralingam said: “Mobile Science Exhibition will take science to the doorsteps of rural population and spread the message of science to work
towards sustainable development and expose them to some of the emerging and challenging issues.”
He emphasized that Science City, through this program, would extend outreach of its activities to that section of society who may not be able to afford a visit to the Science City. This program will enable us to achieve our intended purpose of spreading scientific awareness to a larger section of the society, he said.
Divulging details of Mobile Science Exhibition, Science City director Dr Rajesh Grover said that an amount of approximately Rs 65 lakh has been spent on this project. “Union Ministry of Science and Technology has sanctioned a grant of Rs 52 lakh to develop exhibits as well as bear recurring expenditure for two years to Pushpa Gujral Science City for this Mobile Science Exhibition,” he said.
The interactive exhibits and information panels in the bus will give the students or visitors an opportunity to learn through the process of interaction and discovery.