Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE & Director General, ICAR visits the ICAR-NIHSAD, Bhopal

19th August, 2023,Bhopal

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR visited the ICAR-National High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal today. He was accompanied by Dr. Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General  (FS & AS), Dr. Ashok Kumar, Assistant Director General  (AH), Dr. B. P. Mohanty, Assistant Director General (Inland Fisheries) and Dr. C R Mehta, Director, ICAR-CIAE.

Dr. Pathak, expressed his admiration for the institute's research endeavors, commendable technology developments that had been translated into commercial successes, revenue generation, and the dedication invested in the upkeep of the BSL-3 containment facility. He also informed about the policies & future programmes of the Council, which required to be implemented in different ICAR institutes. He expressed the need to carry out the focused research in the niche areas of the emerging and reemerging diseases including diagnostic vigilance and technology development in these areas.

Dr. Aniket Sanyal Director, ICAR-NIHSAD shed light on the significance and the intricate challenges associated with maintaining such a bio-containment facility. He also  presented the research achievements of the institute.

During this visit, all the dignitaries participated in a tree-planting ceremony as part of the 'Meri Mati, Mera Desh' Campaign, symbolizing their commitment to environmental preservation. Following this, they visited the institute's biosafety engineering support facility, including its state-of-the-art engineering units, animal and Specific Pathogen Free facilities and the Biosafety Level 3 biocontainment facility and were highly impressed with the operation of this BSL-3 facility over the past 23 years.

(Source: ICAR-National High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal)