B.J. Puttaswamy inaugurates country’s first ‘SDG Centre for Youth Engagement’ at NIE

Mysuru: B.J. Puttaswamy, Vice-Chairman, Karnataka State Planning Board, Bengaluru, inaugurated the country’s first ‘SDG Centre for Youth Engagement’ at National Institute of Engineering (NIE) here yesterday. 

NIE, Mysuru, in coordination with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Sustainable Development Goal Coordination Centre (SDGCC) and Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, Government of Karnataka, has established the SDG Centre for Youth Engagement. 

The ‘SDG Centre for Youth Engagement’ is envisioned at imparting the theme of service to the society and sustainable development in the present day youth. The Centre for outreach activities will play a pivotal role in channelising the technical expertise for societal benefits and work towards achieving Sustainable Development  Goals (SDGs). 

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the SDGs or Global goals are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The goals were set in 2015 by United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by 2030. 

Paying rich tributes to Sir M. Visvesvaraya, an engineer par excellence and Dewan of Mysore Kingdom, Puttaswamy said that Bharat Ratna Visvesvaraya has been the symbol of mastery in engineering for his projects like the construction of KRS Dam across River Cauvery. He was a man of commitment and worked for the welfare of people. But the current day engineers neither have skill nor commitment and they were found in plenty in Public Works Department (PWD). He also praised NIE for imparting quality education to students who have made a name in the fields of their choice.

R. Ashok Anand, Vice-President, NIE-MC, presided. Dr. K. Raghuveer, Principal in-Charge, NIE, Dr. H.S. Prasanna, Professor, Department of Civil  Engineering and Dr. Mukund Raj, UNDP, Project Head-SDGCC were present.