Chaos, declined invitations and altercation over stalls mar Day 1

Nagpur: Mismanagement and chaos marred the first day of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) on Tuesday. There were many complaints, right from visitors to students and even the media regarding poor facilities offered by the organizers — Nagpur University and the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
The prestigious event lost its sheen after Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not come due to personal reasons and inaugurated it virtually. Now, President of India Draupadi Murmu, too, has declined the invitation to grace the valedictory function as chief guest. She may appear virtually, just like Modi, said NU officials. There is also no confirmation on whether Tina Ambani, wife of Reliance (ADAG) group chairman Anil Ambani, would attend the inauguration of the Women’s Science Congress on January 5. NU is now searching for a new guest.
According to officials, the NU top brass convinced Union minister Nitin Gadkari to be the chief guest for the Children’s Science Congress after many declined the invitation. It’s learnt that Gadkari agreed reluctantly as he helped NU to bring the event to the city after a long interval of 49 years.
Meanwhile, NU officials said that they had invited state higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Dada Patil to inaugurate an exhibition and museum at the NU archaeology department on Tuesday. However, he too rejected NU’s invite. Subsequently, Union minister of state for science and technology Jitendra Singh was made the chief guest at the last moment.
NU officials said that there was an altercation between the NU top brass and the contractor who was awarded the tender to manage the entire event for approximately Rs 23 crore, including catering. NU wanted more stalls for its departments and students, but the contractor demanded Rs 13,000 per stall.
Officials said the university was provided a pavilion by the contractor at one of the exhibition domes, but the former invited best innovations from all its affiliated colleges and allotted them the stalls. As a result, many NU departments and college students could not get the space to display their projects.
As the ISC website, ISC2023.org, has not been updated, there is no information about who will be the chief guest for the various events. Dates for programmes were mentioned but the links were not accessible. Internet connectivity at the media centre experienced several glitches till the afternoon. It was erratic throughout the day.
Visitors complained about lack of approach roads to the ISC. Till the evening, many stalls were being readied inside the exhibition domes. Even the carpet and other material was not properly laid out. Many stalls were vacant while in a few, there was no one to talk about their products, said visitors.
In the morning, students were not allowed to enter the exhibition domes by the organizers who asked them about their registration details. Even proper parking arrangements were not made by the organizers which led to a mess for some time before the inaugural function. The organizers also failed to set up a help desk at the entrance for guiding the visitors to the venue while information boards were not displayed at the venue to show them the way, they said.
The problems started right in the beginning during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech. The sound system was poor and speeches by dignitaries like governor BS Koshyari and chief minister Eknath Shinde were inaudible, said visitors.