The government will organise a Bihar Vigyan Congress next month to promote science and information technology in the state.

Starting on February 26, the congress will conclude on February 28. In this time, young scientists would be given a platform to share their views on ways to promote science, technology and the information technology sector in Bihar. The up-and-coming scholars would get to rub shoulderswith eminent personalities, including geneticist M.S. Swaminathan, considered father of the Green Revolution.

The three-day congress will be divided into seven science and social science categories in which scientists and research scholars would get to exhibit their scientific temper. The categories are physical science (physics and chemistry), mathematical science (mathematics and statistics), Earth science (geology, remote sensing and natural disaster) medical science (medical and biological science), engineering, computer science (computer and IT) and social science (psychology).

The participants would be asked to provide an overview of their research paper in 250-300 words. Based on the jury decision, some of themwould be asked to give a detailed presentation of their projects.

Ranjit Kumar Verma, the Patna University pro-vice-chancellor and convener of the Bihar Vigyan Congress, said: 'The theme of the congress is science and technology for new Bihar. The idea behind organising it is to find ways to promote the state's science, technology and IT sector.'

He added that apart fromresearch scholars and young scientists, the congress would be attended by personalities such as Swaminathan.

The Vigyan Congress assumes importance as the scientists would discuss ways to improve the science and technology sector and promote it through virtual classrooms in the education sector.

The science and technology department, in its bid to address the shortage of teachers in the state's engineering colleges, decided to introduce the concept of virtual classrooms connecting the seven engineering colleges with the Indira Gandhi Science Complex. The project, sources said, is pending because of technical problems and the experts arriving for the science congress next month would also discuss ways to sort out the issue.

Promotion of the IT sector in Bihar will be a prime objective of the science congress. In the early 2000s, while states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and even neighbouring Jharkhand went ahead in implementing information technology in everyday life, Bihar lagged behind. It still is.

Lalit Mohan Jha, a scientist at the Bihar Council of Science and Technology, said: 'Issue such as e-governance and connecting villages, panchayats and block headquarters with IT will be discussed during the session.'