Solan, 16 March
Several teaching and learning amenities established at a cost of around Rs 3 crore under the World Bank-funded Institutional Development Plan of the ICAR were made functional at Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni. Dr. RC Aggarwal, DDG (Education) at ICAR and National Director of National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) inaugurated these projects in the presence of UHF Vice-Chancellor Dr. Parvinder Kaushal and the core IDP team of the university.
Among the facilities inaugurated is an agri-incubation center on processing and value addition of medicinal and aromatic plants established at a cost of Rs 60 lakh. The center will impart training on skill and entrepreneurship development to students and help develop value-added herbal products based on medicinal and aromatic plants. New startups will be able to utilize the resources and infrastructure available at this center. A language lab for French, German, Spanish, Hindi, English and Sanskrit languages has also been made operational with a cost of Rs 50 lakh. Besides four smart classrooms and two virtual classrooms costing Rs 48 lakh and Rs. 38 lakh respectively were also dedicated to the students. Dr. Aggarwal also inaugurated the IDP Secretariat which houses the procurement cell, social equity cell, virtual counselling cell, Planning and monitoring cell and also has seating space for the IDP team. The Secretariat has been established with a cost of around Rs 1 crore by refurbishing a section of the College of Forestry. Dr. Aggarwal also inspected the various initiatives taken by the university under the IDP project and the research activities being undertaken by the university under other projects. He lauded the university and the IDP for swift and quality implementation of various activities under this project. A remote log software of CERA and GIS certificate courses software was also released on the occasion.
In his address, Dr. Parvinder Kaushal thanked ICAR and Dr. Aggarwal for awarding the project to the university. He said that the university has made sincere efforts to ensure that the benefits of this project reach the students and the outcomes are visible on the ground. He added that the university has implemented several innovative ideas under this project and these are being appreciated by everyone.
Earlier, Director Research Dr. Ravinder Sharma gave a presentation on the various achievements of the university in academics, research and extension. Dr. KK Raina, Principal Investigator of IDP at the university briefed about the various activities and initiatives taken for improving the quality of undergraduate education. Dr. Aggarwal also interacted with the student beneficiaries of the project. He also appreciated the sustainable model of high-density apple and wild pomegranate plantations established under the project at Nauni and Kandaghat. Field visits were also undertaken to show the university’s research activities. All the statutory officers and core team of IDP were present on the occasion.
