GUWAHATI: The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati is leading an initiative to establish the "Manekshaw Centres" for defence and national security research. They will act as an interface between defence forces and academia, research institutions, and work toward next-gen education, innovation, productisation, manufacturing and research-based consulting/operations.
The IIT-Guwahati in a statement said a high-level delegation recently briefed Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the establishment of nodal centres at premier institutes dedicated for defence and national security research. The minister underlined the ministry’s commitment to supporting Manekshaw Centres in building a robust innovation ecosystem that brings academia, defence, armed forces, security agencies and industries together to address the evolving challenges of national security, the IIT-Guwahati said.
The director of the institute Prof Devendra Jalihal, said IITs, IISc, IIITs, and NITs would be the members of the Manekshaw Centres. "The Manekshaw Centres will periodically carry out dialogues with defence agencies and participate actively to define and design systems for Indian security needs. They will work towards finding Indian solutions, thus fulfilling the aspiration of Atmanirbhar Bharat," Jalihal said.
"Aligning with Government of India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, this visionary initiative will unite IITs, IISc, IIITs, and NITs on a collaborative academic and research platform focused on defence technology and national security," the IIT-Guwahati statement said.
The idea of setting up the nodal centres for collaboration among IITs was conceived by Lt. Gen. Dr. Subrata Saha (Retd.), and Prof. Sukumar Nandi, Dean of Administration, IIT-Guwahati. The Manekshaw Centres currently covers several IITs, IISc Bangalore and IIIT Delhi with more institutions expected to join soon.