The first State science committee in the country, and the council that took its place in Kerala

Background

The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment is an autonomous body under the Science and Technology Department of the Kerala government, and it was constituted in November 2002 by GO(P) No. 76/2002/STED as an agency meant to bring change and development through science and technology. The work had earlier been with the Science, Technology and Environment Committee, set up in 1972 in line with the Science Policy of the Government of India. The Council's own record holds that Kerala was the first State in the country to create a State Committee on Science & Technology with a scientist or technologist as its Chairman, and it dates that Committee to 29th May 1972. The same record puts the first Science and Technology Policy resolution in India at 1977, unveiled by the Government of Kerala, and notes a separate Department created in 1987. Above the body sits a State Council that the Chief Minister of Kerala heads, and an Executive council under its Executive Vice President. Identifying thrust areas, advising the government on policy and helping prepare the State's Science and Technology Development Plan are among the objectives listed. The Council works from Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram.