National Council of Science Museums

Coordinates: 22°34′12″N 88°25′43″E / 22.57000°N 88.42861°E / 22.57000; 88.42861
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National Council of Science Museums
AbbreviationNCSM
Formation4 April 1978; 46 years ago (4 April 1978)
TypeSociety
Legal statusGovernment
PurposeEducational
HeadquartersKolkata, West Bengal
Location
  • India
Coordinates22°34′12″N 88°25′43″E / 22.57000°N 88.42861°E / 22.57000; 88.42861
Region served
Worldwide
Director General
A. D. Choudhury
Parent organisation
Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India
Budget
₹740 crore (US$93 million) (2020–21)[1]
Staff
852 (as of 31 March 2019)[2]
Websitencsm.gov.in
RemarksVisitors 14409555 (as of 31 March 2019)[2]

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is an autonomous scientific organization functioning under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for science communication through its network of science museums or science centres spread across India.[3] It is the largest chain of science centers/museums under a single administrative umbrella in the world. There are 24 own science centers or museums and one R & D laboratory and training centre. The NCSM has been built to co-ordinate all informal science communication activities in the museum space in the country.

History[edit]

The first science museum, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata under CSIR43, was opened on 2 May 1959. In July 1965, the second science museum of the country, the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum (VITM) was opened in Bangalore. After Kolkata and Bangalore, the work for the third centre in Mumbai was taken up in 1974. As the popularisation of science and technology through the science museums grew in scope and size, the Union Planning Commission constituted a task force in the early 1970s to assess the activities of the science museums. The task force recommended to set up science museums in different parts of the country at national, state and district levels and also recommended formation of a central coordinating agency. In 1978, it was decided by the Government of India to delink from CSIR the two science museums already operating at Kolkata and Bangalore and also the one being set up at Mumbai and put them under a newly formed society registered on 4 April 1978, as National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).[4]

List of centres[edit]

National Level Centres[edit]

Satellite Units[edit]

  • Bardhaman Science Centre, Babur Bagh, inaugurated on 9 January 1994
  • Digha Science Centre & National Science Camp, New Digha, inaugurated on 31 August 1997
  • Dhenkanal Science Centre, Orissa, inaugurated on 5 June 1995
  • District Science Centre, Purulia, inaugurated on 15 December 1982
  • Kapilas Science Park, Dhenkanal, inaugurated on 5 June 1995
  • North Bengal Science Centre, Matigara, inaugurated on 17 August 1997
  • Regional Science Centre, Bhubaneswar, inaugurated on 18 September 1989
  • Srikrishna Science Centre, Patna, inaugurated on 14 April 1978
  • North Bengal Science Centre, Siliguri, inaugurated on 17 August 1997
  • Regional Science Centre, Guwahati, inaugurated on 15 March 1994
  • Regional Science City, Lucknow, operational since 1989
  • Kurukshetra Panorama & Science Centre, Haryana, operational since 2000
  • District Science Centre, Dharampur, operational since 1984
  • Goa Science Centre, Panjim, operational since 2002
  • Raman Science Centre & Planetarium, Nagpur, operational since 1992 & 1996 respectively
  • Regional Science Centre, Bhopal, operational since 1995
  • District Science Centre, Gulbarga, operational since 1984
  • District Science Centre, Tirunelveli, operational since 1987
  • Regional Science Centre, Tirupati, operational since 1993
  • Regional Science Centre and Planetarium, Kozhikode, operational since 1997

Centres developed for states/UTs[edit]

The following are the list of science centres/museums developed by NCSM for various state governments and union territories across India.

Science museums/centres State/UT Date of inauguration
Regional Science Centre, Bhopal Madhya Pradesh 12 January 1995
Science Centre, Port Blair Andaman and Nicobar Islands 30 May 2003
Mizoram Science Centre, Aizawl Mizoram 26 July 2003
Nagaland Science Centre, Dimapur Nagaland 14 September 2004
Manipur Science Centre Manipur 18 May 2005
Arunachal Pradesh Science Centre, Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh 3 December 2005
Shillong Science Centre, Shillong Meghalaya 27 February 2006
Sikkim Science Centre, Gangtok Sikkim 22 February 2008
Sub-Regional Science Centres, Kalimpong West Bengal 2 October 2008
Sub-Regional Science Centre, Solapur Maharashtra 14 February 2010
Regional Science Centre, Ranchi Jharkhand 29 November 2010
Dharwad Regional Science Centre Karnataka 27 February 2012
Chhattisgarh Science Centre, Raipur Chhattisgarh 13 July 2012
Regional Science Centre, Jaipur Rajasthan 29 December 2012
Pimpri Chinchwad Science Centre, Pune Maharashtra 8 February 2013
Jorhat Science Centre & Planetarium Assam 6 July 2013
Regional Science Centre, Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 6 May 2013.
Sub Regional Science Centre, Jodhpur Rajasthan 17 August 2013
Regional Science Centre, Pilikula Karnataka 1 October 2014
Sub Regional Science Centre Puducherry 3 May 2015
Regional Science Centre, Dehradun Uttarakhand 3 February 2016
Bargarh Science Centre, Bargarh Odisha 21 January 2020
Regional Science Centre, Chalakudy Kerala February 2021[5][6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Council of Science Museums.
  1. ^ https://www.indiaculture.nic.in/sites/default/files/pdf/DDG_2020_21_rotated_05_05_2020.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ a b Activity Report 2018–19. p–63. National Council of Science Museums publication.
  3. ^ Ministry of Culture official website. indiaculture.nic.in.
  4. ^ "National Council of Science Museums".
  5. ^ "Regional Science Centre at Chalakudy to be opened in February". English.Mathrubhumi.
  6. ^ "PRD Live - ശാസ്ത്രലോകത്തിന് വഴിതുറന്ന് ചാലക്കുടി".

External links[edit]

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