The Additional secretary, Revenue and Science and Technology, Vijay Kumar Dhaundiyal has called upon the youth of Uttarakhand to take to science communication as a way of life so that the masses understand the phenomenon of natural disasters and can face them better.
The journalists can lead to real-time empowerment of the Uttarakhandis by creating general awareness about natural hazards through easy to understand articles and news stories in the print and electronic media, he said. Inaugurating a four day workshop for empowerment of science communicators /writers/journalists organised by lokhit Foundation with support from the Rashtriya Vigyan Evam Prodyogiki Sanchar Parishad ( RVPSP), Department of Science and Technology, at the Omkaranand Institute of Management and Technology, Muni Ki Reti, Tehri Garhwal, Dhaundiyal said that journalists acting as science communicators could play a big role in empowering the masses about the latest in the field of scientific developments by narrating scientific phenomenon in the layman’s language.
“The knowledge of scientific developments clubbed with the rich traditional wisdom could help Uttarakhand become a real vibrant State that could face natural disasters easily. All schools should include scientific temper and its use in everyday life in the curriculum so that the children take back the knowledge home from where their parents could further spread it in their villages or localities,” he said. OIMT director Aditya Gautam, while urging the participants to learn maximum science communication skills hoped they would disseminate this knowledge back home to reduce the drudgery of the common man especially women.
The empowerment workshop was all the more relevant for Uttarakhand that faced a massive disaster in June and the participating science communicator trainees could play a big role in educating villagers, womenfolk, , teachers, and village levels Panchayat officials about the easy to use scientific knowledge to face natural disasters on returning home. These empowered youth could further spread this knowledge amongst the masses so that they could remain alert and take steps to protect themselves during natural disasters, said Gautam.