Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Pratap Chandra Sarangi Monday wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan requesting support for Marine Bio-resources & Bio-technology Centre at Fakir Mohan University, Balasore. Sarangi requested adequate provisioning of financial resources for infrastructure development, capacity building and manpower.
In a letter Sarangi said that Fakir Mohan University, a state university at Balasore, has established a Centre for Martine Bio-Resources and Bio-Technology in its campus. This is by far the only centre of its kind in Odisha and amongst a very few in the country. Odisha with immense potential in its long coast line of 480 km is the most ideal state for research and extension in marine Bio-resources.
Balasore, is strategically located with vast coastline with well supported industrial eco-system, congenial for development of marine resources, he said.
In view of the above, the Marine centre will not only contribute to commercial exploitation of marine bio-resources but also create employment opportunities for rural youth. This will be a ‘state of the art’ scientific marine centre to undertake research and development activities as well as innovation in the field of marine bio –technology and bio-resources.
“I earnestly request for your support for the Centre for Marine Bio-resources & Bio-technology at Fakir Mohan University, Balasore by way of adequate provisioning of financial resources for infrastructure development, capacity building & manpower”, said Sarangi in the letter.
Earlier, the State Health Minister Naba Kishore Das had written two letters to the Union Health Minister for building second AIIMS hospital in Odisha’s Sundargarh district and for not merging the Rourkela based National Institute for Malaria Research field unit of The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with the unit in Ranchi.