Ongole: Demand for construction of science centre gets shriller

Ongole: The science enthusiastic people, teachers and students in the Prakasam district are demanding the government to complete the construction of the science centre and digital planetarium that is pending for a long time.

The then government had established the Andhra Pradesh Council of Science and Technology in 1986 as an autonomous body under the aegis of Environment, Forest, Science and Technology departments. The Chief Minister is the president of the general council while the Ministers of Environment, Forest, Science and Technology are the vice president of the council and chairman of the executive committee. The AP COST will establish effective communication and other links between line departments and coordinate the activities of research in order to promote the science and technology application.

To foster the spirit of science in all categories of public, especially among the youth, the AP COST is operating regional science centre at Vijayawada, district science centre at Nellore and the government has laid the foundation for the district science centre at Rajahmundry. Besides the Regional Science Center operated by the National Council of Science Museums at Tirupati, the Central government assured to construct a science city there. Before 2019 general elections, the State government announced to construct a district science centre at Ongole and a science museum in Visakhapatnam.

The demand for the science centre and a planetarium for Prakasam district has been pending for decades. Y Prasada Rao, a science teacher in a government school, said that visits to science centres help the children to develop an interest in science and the research field. He said that the models at the science centres help the teachers explain to the students about the complex principles in science in detail, elaborative and easy ways. He said that the students from the district have demanding the science centre for at least two decades, since the time they opened the RSC in Vijayawada, but there is no favourable response from the government.

Kolla Madhu, president of the Ongole Citizen Association requested the government to take the construction of the science centre and planetarium on the premises of the Andhra Kesari University, which was approved by the Cabinet recently. He said that the government announced to release of funds of nearly Rs 350 crore for the construction of the university. He requested the government to spare a 5 acres of land and provide funds to construct the science centre and digital planetarium at the university, which could help the local students to develop an interest in science and space. He said that the Covid pandemic has proved to the world the importance of science in life and he wished that the science centre and planetarium if constructed in Prakasam, will boost the scientific temper in the local children and encourage them to become scientists in future.