National Council of Science Museums

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is an autonomous organisation under Indian Ministry of Culture.[3] It is the largest chain of science centers or 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 of NCSM, located in different states in India. Functioning under the Ministry of Culture (and drawing its funding primarily from it), the NCSM has been built to co-ordinate all informal science communication activities in the museum space in the country. Its raison d’etre is specified on the website as described in the section ‘Genesis’:

National Council of Science Museums
राष्ट्रीय विज्ञान संग्रहालय परिषद
AbbreviationNCSM
Formation4 April 1978
TypeSociety
Legal statusGovernment
PurposeEducational
HeadquartersKolkata
Location
  • India
Coordinates22°34′12″N 88°25′43″E
Region served
Worldwide
Director General
Shri A. D. Choudhury
Parent organisation
Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India
Staff
852 [As on 31 March 2019][1]
Websitewww.ncsm.gov.in
RemarksVisitors 14409555 [As on 31 March 2019][2]

The first science museum, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata under CSIR43, was opened on May 2, 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 at 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 early 1970’s to assess the activities of the Science Museums. 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 April 4, 1978 as National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).[4]

Own Units
  • 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
  • Central Research & Training Laboratory, Kolkata, R & D laboratory and Training centre of NCSM. Operational since 1 January 1988 and dedicated to the nation on 13 March 1993
  • Regional Science Centre, Guwahati, inaugurated on 15 March 1994
Former Director Generals
  • Saroj Ghose
  • Ingit Kumar Mukhopadhyay
  • Ganga Singh Rautela
  • Anil S. Manekar
  • K.G. Kumar
  • Regional Science City, Lucknow, operational since 1989
  • Kurukshetra Panorama & Science Centre, Haryana, operational since 2000
  • 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

Science Centres developed for different state governments
Sl. No. Science Museums/Centres Date of Inauguration
1. Science Centre, Port Blair, A & N Island May 30, 2003
2. Mizoram Science Centre, Aizwal, Mizoram July 26, 2003
3. Nagaland Science Centre, Dimapur, Nagaland September 14, 2004
4. Manipur Science Centre, Manipur May 18, 2005
5. Arunachal Pradesh Science Centre, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh December 3, 2005
6. Shillong Science Centre, Shillong, Meghalaya February 27, 2006
7. Sikkim Science Centre, Gangtok, Sikkim February 22, 2008
8. Sub-Regional Science Centres, Kalimpong, West Bengal October 2, 2008
9. Sub-Regional Science Centre, Solapur, Maharashtra February 14, 2010
10. Regional Science Centre, Ranchi, Jharkhand November 29, 2010
11. Dharwad Regional Science Centre, Karnataka February 27, 2012
12. Chhattisgarh Science Centre, Raipur, Chhattisgarh July 13, 2012
13. Regional Science Centre, Jaipur, Rajasthan December 29, 2012
14. Pimpri Chinchwad Science Centre, Pune, Maharashtra February 8, 2013
15. Jorhat Science Centre & Planetarium, Assam July 6, 2013
16. Regional Science Centre, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu May 6, 2013.
17. Sub Regional Science Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan August 17, 2013
18. Regional Science Centre, Pilikula, Karnataka October 1, 2014
19. Sub Regional Science Centre, Puducherry May 3, 2015
20. Regional Science Centre, Dehradun, Uttarakhand February 3, 2016
21. Bargarh Science Centre, Bargarh, Odisha January 21, 2020

    Upcoming science centres

    NCSM is now developing science centres at the following places in India with collaboration by the respective State Governments.

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    See also

    References
    1. Activity Report 2018-19. p-63. National Council of Science Museums publication
    2. Activity report 2018-19. p-63 National Council of Science Museums publication
    3. Ministry of Culture official website
    4. "National Council of Science Museums".
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