Harsh Vardhan says Ministry of Earth Sciences can be renamed Bharat Mata Mantralaya: Report

Harsh Vardhan1

Union Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has said he would not mind renaming the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) as Bharat Mata Mantralaya, according to a report in The Times of India.

Harsh Vardhan made the statement during the 144^th Foundation Day of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and added that if the Secretary of MoES, also known as Prithvi Vigyan Mantralaya, agreed to the suggestion, there wouldn’t be any problem in renaming the ministry. The event was attended by many scientists including former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar and IMD chief K J Ramesh.

It occurred when a presenter at the event called MoES Bharat Mata Mantralaya instead of Prithvi Vigyan Mantralaya over which Vardhan expressed happiness stating there is no need to have any pretension over this. “Isme koi sochne ki baat nahin hai...koi pretension karne ki bhi baat nahin hai (There is no need to think about it...there is no need to have any pretension)”.

The minister further said that all the scientists and other workers in MoES work for the environment which is “Bharat Mata for all of us”. He then started using ‘Bharat Mata Mantralaya’ every time he referenced to the MoES. Vardhan stated the ministry’s move to popularise science through two new initiatives – DD Science and India Science, launched in association with broadcaster Doordarshan.

The minister also said that these two initiatives that are aimed at popularising science and showing its benefit to people would be operated from the MoES headquarters. DD Science will be an hour-long show on the Doordarshan national channel whereas India Science will be an internet-based channel which will be live 24x7 and offer live, scheduling of episodes and video-on-demand services.

M Rajeevan, secretary of MoES, said that IMD has one of the best weather systems in the world but “its outreach is still very very bad” as reported by The Times of India. IMD, the national weather forecaster, comes under the MoES. The secretary also added that the ministry would launch a new website and come up with a mobile application which would help the general public get all weather-related information in real time.