New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS): The government will set up science museums across the country to promote scientific temper, particularly among children and the younger generation, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, announced on Wednesday.

Singh was speaking after signing of an MoU between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in the presence of Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy.

The MoU aims to set up science museums at select CSIR laboratories to promote scientific curiosity and awareness among the common people across all sections of society, a release from the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

Singh called for imbibing scientific thinking to face the challenges of the 21st century. He said the recent pandemic has emphasised the importance of increasing awareness of the society for science and scientific thinking.

Referring to the recent speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 76th United National General Assembly in New York, wherein Modi had pointed to the threat of regressive thinking and extremism faced by the world, the minister reiterated that science-based, rational and progressive thinking should form the basis of development and in order to strengthen a science-based approach, India is promoting experience-based learning.

The new initiative of CSIR in setting up virtual labs in partnership with IIT-Bombay for school students as desired by the Prime Minister in the CSIR Society Meeting in 2020 is highly laudable, Singh said, as he welcomed the move by CSIR and NCSM to set up a museum within NPL to showcase the technologies and interventions developed by CSIR over the past eight decades.

Reddy said, "Globally, it is recognised that science centres play an important role in supplementing science education in the country and creating a culture of science and technology and developing scientific temper among the masses and the youth in particular."