From Koduru in Andhra Pradesh, SECAS II next moved to Puducherry. SECAS II was welcomed by Shri P. Uday Kumar Reddy, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchirapally, along with other railway officials.
It was a memorable experience for SECAS II team as Dr. Kiran Bedi, Hon'ble Lt. Governor of Puducherry, visited the exhibition train and appreciated the efforts put in by the Govt. of India She also addressed the team and gave valuable suggestions for regulating heavy rush of visitors. Dr. Vandana Singh, Scientist D, DST along with a group of women scientists, visited the exhibition train and interacted with the on-board team.
SECAS II was scheduled for two days at Puducherry. The second day of halt witnessed enthusiastic response where more than 7,000 students from 70 educational institutions and over 5,500 general visitors came to see the exhibition. Looking at this huge rush, SECAS II team decided to open the exhibition early and extended the closing time. Altogether in two days more than 21,000 people including students from 101 different educational institutions visited the exhibition train.
At Puducherry, SECAS II team conducted Teachers Orientation Session for a group of 26 primary and secondary school teachers where they emphasized on “Hands-on Approaches” for teaching science and mathematics. The team also briefed the participating teachers about different DST and DBT fellowship schemes for the students to pursue higher education in the field of science and technology.
The complementary activities in JOS Lab, Kids Zone and Platform Activity, also received enthusiastic participation. Department of Science, Technology and Environment (DSTE), Govt. of Puducherry and Puducherry Pollution Control Committee also conducted a drawing competition for children at the platform.
ENVIS Centre, Puducherry extended their support to the SECAS II team. They also organized and conducted a Puppet show on ‘Climate Change- Adaptation and Mitigation.
At Puducherry, SECAS II crossed 8 lakh general visitors mark in the current phase.
With this, the halt of SECAS II at Puducherry came to a successful end and the team packed up and made preparations for their departure to the next station – Attur in Tamil Nadu