The proposed five-day convention being conducted in association with the Indian Science Congress (ISC) Association, Kolkata, will be held at the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad. It is learnt that this is the first time a Congress is being held in an agricultural university.
The director general of UNIDO, ILO, vice-president of the World Bank - incharge of rural development apart from 5,000-odd scientists, delegates and noble laureates are expected to attend the conference which aims for sustainable agriculture and allied sectors for enhanced productivity and food security.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, IV Subba Rao, general president, ISC, 2006 and former vice-chancellor, ANGRAU said that the theme of the Congress will be "Integrated rural development: Science and technology".
The topic is relevant because despite all the achievements made in the fields of science and technology, rural India is still plagued with daunting problems like lack of safe drinking water, health care, sanitation, small-scale and agro-based industries, education and public-private partnership.
With the formation of a knowledge commision, headed by Sam Pitroda, and the programme committee constituted by MS Swaminathan as the chairman, the 93rd Congress hopes to bring in science and technology for sustainable development in response to fulfill all basic human needs, Dr Rao said.
