The North-East Regional Centre for National Digital Library of India was opened at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) here during a programme at IIT-G conference hall on Friday.
This marks another milestone towards the mission to democratise education in India.
Dr Tamal Guha, Librarian, IIT-G, presided over the inaugural ceremony.
In his inaugural speech, Dr Guha said, “Access to digital resources for and from the eight sister States of the Northeast will open further doors to learning that is inclusive to every citizen in the country.”
Parthapratim Das, Joint Investigator, National Digital Library of India (NDLI), explained the history behind introducing the centre to the Northeastern region.
Addressing the event, IIT-G Director Gautam Biswas spoke about the historiography of online education in India.
Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri, Advisor (Education Department), Government of Assam, was the Guest of Honour in the programme.
Chaudhuri spoke on the explosion of knowledge within the past few decades and the advantages and disadvantages that the digital libraries might face.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr B Sutradhar, Co-Principal Investigator, NDLI Project and Librarian, IIT Kharagpur emphasised on the importance of connecting National Digital Library of India to every corner of the country.
More other dignitaries from NDLI, IIT-G, IIT-Kharagpur along with Assam Government officials were present in the inauguration programme. Officials from Union Ministry of Human Resource Development also attended the programme to support the NDLI move.
The NDLI regional centre will aid all the schools, colleges, academic institutions, professionals and life-long learners in the region to integrate with and gain free access to quality education.
NDLI has been continuously working for digital advancement in the education sector in India.
Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) initiated the NDLI pilot project which is under its national mission on education through Information Technology. It was developed at the IIT-Kharagpur.