North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (Nectar) Implementing Several Projects Sucessfully

North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (Nectar) Implementing Several Projects Sucessfully

The North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) set up in 2012 as an autonomous society under Department of Science and Technology to assist the North-Eastern region of the country is ensuring applications of appropriate technologies for development in the areas of biodiversity, watershed management, telemedicine, horticulture, infrastructure planning and development, planning and monitoring, tele-schooling using cutting edge MESHNET solutions, employment generation, etc. through utilization of local products/resources and resulting in associated skill development.

This was stated by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.

With financial assistance from the Government of India and also from the State Governments, the Centre has developed and showcased many appropriate technologies for the region and proved their efficacy in real life. The Government of Meghalaya has also allotted 5 acres of land for setting up the office of NECTAR in the New Shillong area. The Cabinet approved the merger of National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA) and the Mission for Geo Spatial Applications (MGA) along with their assets and liabilities into the Centre. The talent pools available with these missions helped kick start the activities of NECTAR.

Targets set by NECTAR consist of projects in the following areas:

·         Projects that secure safety and security of people;

·         Projects that contribute to Urban Management and Urban Civic Services (CCTV based surveillance systems/traffic management technology), Radio networks, 3-D terrain models, etc.;

·         Projects that enable critical, reliable communication at high bandwidth and employing high speeds

·         Tele-medicine and E-education meshnets.

·         Projects that enable mapping of scarce and critical natural resources like water, forests, public utilities, etc. using 3-D GIS platform at a very high resolution;

·         Wide-ranging training and technology projects in areas of bamboo applications across the entire value chain from bamboo growth, primary processing to modern applications and products;

·         Income and livelihood programmes in agriculture, horticulture and agri-processing;

·         Training and skills development programmes in rural and backward regions.

NECTAR has, in the last three years, developed and implemented a large number of such technology projects. The achievements, in brief, are as follows: