Dharamsala, April 23
A large number of educated and degree-holder youth are trying to get government jobs in the state. However, there are a few, illiterate or semi-literate Gaddis, who have created employment for themselves. They have already created models that the state Tourism Department can follow for implementing their home tourism policy.

Raju is a semi-literate youth from a rural area of Shahpur Assembly constituency in Kangra district. However, he is very famous among foreign tourists coming to Dharamkot, an elusive village, 2 km uphill from the famous hill station of McLeodganj.

He was running a small eating joint in Dharamkot. Despite the fact that the influx of foreign tourists in the state has been low this year, the small eating joint of Raju is already buzzing with activity. He opened the joint last week and is finding it hard to cope with an unprecedented crowd visiting the place.

While talking to The Tribune, Raju said he started the eating joint a few years ago in a leased building. I have brought with me a few more youths from the village who are now my partners and help me in running the show.

This year Raju also spent the winter months in Goa. He was given the idea of running an eating joint from September to March in Goa by two visiting Russian tourists. Tourism is lean in winter months at Dharamkot or other hill stations of the state.

Raju said this year he ran an eating joint in Goa during the winter months and business was good there. I intend to repeat the practice of shifting to Goa after September every year, he said. Like Raju many rural youths from Dharamsala have adopted the practice of migrating to Goa during the winter months for doing business in hospitality industry. Himachal youths have picked up the idea of migrating for doing business in hospitality industry from their counterparts in Goa. Many youths from Goa also come to hill stations of Himachal and take eating joints and buildings on lease for summer months.

Though they are not catering to high-end tourists, the new variety of migrant youths from the Kangra valley has shown how a little initiative can create self-employment initiatives for youths. A few Gaddi tribe youths, who have also taken up the new practice to migrate, said that it was not a new thing for them. “Our forefathers used to migrate to the plains in winters along with their sheep flocks. Now we migrate to join hospitality industry. 

Chamera (Chamba), April 23
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has been contributing over Rs 200 crore annually by way of royalty on the power generated in Chamba district to the state exchequer.

Revealing this here recently, official sources of the NHPC said the corporation had been producing 1,269 MW every year from its four hydroelectric projects which included 540-MW Chamera-I, 300-MW Chamera-II, 231-MW Chamera-III and 198-MW Baira-Siul power stations under operation on the Ravi basin in Chamba district.

Besides, approximately Rs 2 crore were being spent every year by these projects on the development activities in various domains in the environs of these projects under the corporate social responsibility (CSR), the sources divulged, adding that ample funds were also being utilised on the local area development works.

The NHPC, with its continued commitment towards CSR and ethical behaviour, has contributed to the economic development and improving the quality of life of internal as well as external stakeholders and the society at large. It has undertaken a number of community development initiatives in the areas of health, education, vocational training programme, peripheral development, sports and culture, employment generation opportunities, preservation of nature for the community living in and around the power stations and construction projects.

Various other initiatives have also been undertaken by the NHPC like creating herbal parks with medicinal value, large scale afforestation, catchment area treatment, fisheries management, development of tourism in the region and infrastructural developments.

The NHPC has empowered a number of rural poor in the surrounding communities through education, vocational training programmes, adult education programmes, health care, promoting sports and culture etc. which have led to significant socio-economic development in the vicinity of various NHPC power projects.

Palampur, April 23
CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, developed “Drilbu”, a high-yielding cultivar of Hippophae salicifolia species of sea buckthorn, which has been accepted by farmers of Lahaul for large-scale cultivation on marginal lands.

“Drilbu” has promising economic characters like tree form, few thorns, large fruit (32g) and high-yield of fruits (5.5 kg/plant), which are as good as Russian varieties. Further, the vitamin C content is high (930 mg/100) in it, which is among the highest in the world.

Sea buckthorn has high demand in juice market, mainly based on the vitamin C content in fruit, and it contributes about 80 per cent to the global market.

Further, high content of three omega fatty acids make “Drilbu” cultivar highly useful for cosmetic and drug market. The Palampur university and the DRDO conducted clinical studies on “Drilbu” and found better results in medicines than other species of sea buckthorn.

In view of above better economic characters of the cultivar and local adaptation, farmers readily accepted it for mass cultivation.

Against the target of 100 farmers, over 150 farmers planted sea buckthorn in 75 hectares of marginal lands that speak the growing interest of farmers in the cultivar. The remaining 25 hectares is being brought under this cultivar in April to achieve the target of 100 hectares of marginal land.

The mandate of the project is to develop a model on value chain on sea buckthorn on marginal lands in the cold desert area of the state and in sites, not suitable for cultivation of apple and other crops.

The university will propagate about 1 lakh saplings of the cultivar for filling gaps during October-November this year as the World Bank-funded project on “a value chain on sea buckthorn” for Rs 4.11 crore (2008-13) has been extended by NAIP of ICAR till March 2014.

Scientists of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the Palampur university at Kukumseri organised 45 awareness-cum-training camps for farmers, foresters and NGOs and have trained over 1,400 farmers.

The university also standardised a number of sea buckthorn fruit harvesters, foods, animal feed and medicines for domestic animals, which they displayed during the Kisan Mela held on the campus of the university.

Once all plantations of sea buckthorn come to fruit-bearing stage, professional companies will be approached for market linkage so farmers can get better enumerative price of their produce along with market assurance.

Till then the Lahaul-Spiti Sea Buckthorn Cooperative Society has made arrangements for buying sea buckthorn fruit from farmers and selling its pulp to the Lahaul Potato Society, which has launched sea buckthorn juice, squash and jam in the Kullu market. The research work done by scientists of university on cultivation technologies and development of various value-added sea buckthorn products has been appreciated by various expert committees, including the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, and the state government.

Palampur April 23
The shortage of labour, non-availability of subsidy on fertilisers, inputs and other assistance have led to the abandoning of tea farms by a number of tea growers in the Kangra valley this season.

There is a sharp fall in the production of green tea leaves as compared to the previous year due to the shortage of man power. Many tea growers in the valley failed to pluck green leaves in the absence of labour.

In most of the tea gardens, the production of green tea leaves was only 40 per cent of the production last year. Notably, quality tea leaves are plucked in the March-end and April only, but that too remained much below the expectations of the growers.

Official sources say the production has come down to 30 to 40 per cent in the valley. Small growers are the worst hit, where the fall in the the production of green tea leaves has been recorded up to 70 per cent. The long spell of winters and cold weather conditions in April further aggravated the situation as it damaged tea bushes in many gardens.

In April last year, the total production of green leaves were 7, 90,000 kg whereas this year, it has come down to 5,00,000 kg. The total loss to the local tea industry has been estimated at Rs 10 crores this season. However, experts and scientists, working at the HPAU, estimate that the loss was more than Rs 10 crore. The Palampur Cooperative Tea Factory, which is already in the red, has been adversely affected because of the poor inflow of green leaves in April. Its production has come down by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, Brij Butail, leading tea grower and Speaker of the HP Assembly, said the Ministry of Commerce, through the Tea Board of India, was prepared to launch a multi-crore project for the revival of the tea industry in the valley. “The project will extend technical and financial support to the tea growers. It will also help the tea growers to switch over to mechanised plucking of green leaves. It is expected that with the coming up of this project, the Kangra Tea Industry will enter in the new era,” he adds. 

Shimla, April 23
The government proposes to develop infrastructure for production of carp fish seed and ornamental fish to give fillip to aquaculture for which the state dotted with natural and manmade water bodies has a huge potential.

As aquaculture is an environment friendly-avocation the government has identified it as one of the important sectors to fuel economic growth in rural areas. It has decided to for develop inland-fish landing centers in the vicinity of reservoirs at the cost of Rs 11 crore under the National Mission for Protein Supplements (NMPS) for strengthening of carp seed farms and extension of the aquaculture programme. The Carp fish seed will be raised up to fingerling size at the Deoli Fish Seed Farm in Una district to stock the reservoirs and fulfil the requirement of those engaged in the avocation. Besides , Gobind Sagar in Bilaspur, Pong Dam in Kangra and Chamera reservoir in Chamba will be stocked with commercially important fish species.

The efforts to propagate trout farming had been successful and the annual production of trout is now over 205 tonne, while total fish production in the has gone up to 8561 metric tonne in 2012-13, which was 515 tonne more than last year.

The Gobindsagar Reservoir has set the record of per hectare fish production in the country during the year with an outturn of 1212.73 tonne ,with a yield of 121.3 kg per hectare per annum.

The Una district will be the focal point of fisheries where fish seed and hatchery having capacity to raise 100 million fish seed every year, including a ten hectare nursery, 22 hectare rearing area and a feed mill will be developed. Besides, 10 hectare rearing area in Solan and 8 hectare in Kangra is also proposed to be developed.

The fisheries department has initiated a phased programme for re-modelling and expanding the existing trout farms and constructing new ones. Five trout seed farms have been set up at Patlikhul, Barot, Holi, Dhamwari and Sangla and one was coming up at Hamni. Augmentation of water supply and setting up of modern hatchery has been taken up at Barot and Dhamwari farms. 

Dalhousie, April 23
The Investiture Ceremony-2013 of the Prefectorial System of the school students was organised at Hill Top School, Dalhousie, recently. The ceremony was presided over by the Subdivisional Magistrate of Dalhousie, Sanjay Dhiman.

The school Principal, Virender Singh Moudgill, administered the oath to the newly appointed prefects, whereas the chief guest, the SDM, embellished the prefects with badges -- symbolic of the recognition and ability to perform.

The students of senior classes and tiny tots draped in colourful attires presented several cultural events such as spring dance, bhangra and group songs, which heralded the onset of the spring season. The group song presented by the students highlighted the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan.

The school captain, Ketan Kapania, and the girl captain, Chandni Rajput, expressed gratitude towards the school functionaries for acknowledging their leadership qualities.

Felicitating the prefects, the chief guest advised them to perform their duties with a sense of devotion, probity and perseverance. He said the 21st century had thrown many challenges before us, hoping that these prefects would set an example.

The Director and Principal of Dalhousie Public School, Dr (Capt) GS Dhillon, was the guest of honour at the ceremony.

Expressing thanks to the audience, the school managing committee president, Suvir Ahuja, and vice-president Sudha Ahuja also honoured the chief guest. 

Palampur, April 23
The Dhauladhar ranges in Himachal Pradesh fall among the most sensitive earthquake-prone areas of the country ( zone-v). The haphazard and unplanned construction of houses here has become a matter of serious concern. The government agencies, dealing with urban development and planning of towns in Himachal Pradesh have completely failed to streamline the system in past five years.

During this period many towns like Palampur, Baijnath, Kangra, Gaggal and Dharamsala have turned into concrete jungles.

After the 2001 earthquake, Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, had taken serious measures to regulate the construction activities in this region and brought all the important towns of Kangra district within the purview of the Town and Country Planning Act. However, the efforts of the state government remained confined to paper only.

The illegal and unplanned construction is an open invitation to a major disaster. Not only private parties, but semi-government and government agencies have also not followed the norms laid down for the construction activities. A number of government departments have openly flouted the norms laid down by the Town and Country Planning Department.

Experts from the seismology department of Roorkee University have recommended earthquake-proof constructions for the region. But, neither the Town and Country Planning authorities nor the state government followed the measures suggested by the experts.

The resident of area have high hopes from new Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Minister Sudheer Sharma, who has assured the resident that he is for the planned development of all town of Himachal Pradesh. He has directed the department to follow the rules and norms while giving an approval to a building. 

Hamirpur, April 23
A lantana-eradication programme has been started in the Hamirpur forest circle under which local people have been involved to clean forest and private lands from lantana.

Lantana eradication programme has been launched in three forest divisions i.e. Hamirpur, Dehra and Una forest division of Hamirpur forest circle.

Lantana, introduced in India by the Britishers is listed amongst the worst weeds in the world and has become a problem in large areas of Himachal Pradesh. In the Hamirpur forest circle, 15,662 hectares area was infested by lantana.

The lantana eradication programme launched by the Forest Department is quite significant since earlier efforts to eradicate this weed have failed in many parts of the country.

The Forest Department is giving cash incentives to farmers involved in the eradication programme who are encouraged to raise alternative plants on the cleared land for which cash incentive is also given by the Forest Department.

The area having at least 10 hectare with cent per cent lantana weed is selected under this programme and after eradication at least 100 alternative trees are to be grown in the area.

During the first year, the farmers are given Rs 23,900 per hectare, in the second year Rs 13,500 and in the third year Rs 37,400 are given besides maintenance cost.

A total of Rs 47,000 per hectare are being given to farmers over a three- period under this programme.

Conservator of Forest, Hamirpur circle, Pradeep Thakur said, “A total of 982-hectare forest land has been cleared from the lantana weed under the lantana eradication programme during the past four years and Rs 50.73 lakh has been given as incentive to farmers.”

He said, “Significant success has been achieved under this programme in the Hamirpur Forest Circle in lantana-eradication programme.” 

Bharmour, April 23
In a rare and a first of its kind incident, officials of the Chamba forest circle made a debut in the first general house meeting of the gram sabha at a remote Holi panchayat of the Bharmour tribal subdivision recently. The gram sabha meeting was presided over by the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), ARM Reddy.

At the meeting, the CCF appealed to the people of the tribal region to protect the forests from fires and cooperate with the department to protect the pristine forests of the area from illicit felling, extraction activites and smuggling of precious medicinal plants like ‘guchhi’ and ‘nagchhattri’.

He cautioned the people not to become a part of the game of smugglers for petty money offered by them as it involved the future of their kith and kin. He also stated that the department had already sent a four-year extraction cycle for the medicinal plants of these mountainous terrains for the approval of the competent authority. Soon after its approval, they can legally extract and export substances after obtaining permission from the gram panchayat pradhan by paying a nominal royalty.

He also appealed to the people to prevent public as well as other agencies from dumping the muck in the Ravi or else such offenders would face action under relevant provisions of the Forest Act.

Under ‘apna van apna dhan’ scheme, the CCF advised the people to take plants of their choice free of cost for planting in their private land. Answering to a question regarding ‘timber distribution’ to the right holders, he said the scheme was not wound up but they could avail themselves of this opportunity by submitting applications as assured by the Forest Minister.

Henceforth, the field staff of the Forest Department had been directed to appear at the gram sabha meetings regularly especially to inform the people of the activities of the department. The CCF appealed to the panchayats to provide labour for executing the works under the MGNREGA and protecting forests. The pradhan, gram panchayat, Ravi, thanked the participants at the meeting. 

Nurpur, April 23
The Forest Department is all set to cope with the forest fires in lower Kangra district in summer. The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Nurpur, recently convened a special meeting to protect forests from fires. The department usually considers April 15 to June 15 as the period of forest fires from, but it can be extended till the monsoon season. The department has identified 40,885 hectares of forest area as fire sensitive.

Briefing the fire-fighting strategy, formulated at the recent meeting of the Forest Department, DFO Sanjay Sen said the department had set up six control rooms in all five forest range offices at Nurpur,Kotla, Jawali, Fatehpur and Indora. He said 54 out of 82 beats of forest were fire sensitive. “The department has cancelled holidays of its field staff in the fire season and maintained 59-Km long 30 fire lines in the forest division. Besides, fire squads in all 21 blocks of the forest division have been made ready to douse forest fires in the area,” he said. He added that temporary fire watchers were also being deployed in every forest beat and the fire task force, comprising 60 forest personnel, had been deputed at the forest range level to combat forest fires.

It is notable that forest fires are usually reported due to burning of bushes and weeds by the people, living around forest areas. The negligence on the part of passersby, who smoke in forest areas, also leads to the trouble.

According to DFO Sanjay Sen, the lighting of forests is a cognisable offence and under the Indian Forest Act-1927 setting the forest wealth on fire was a non-bailable offence. He appealed to the public to assist the department in the conservation of the forest wealth. He claimed that burning of pastures in private as well as forest areas was leading to the growth of lantana in spite of green fodder as conceived by farmers.

Bilaspur, April 23
At the largely attended Mahila Congress Conference, organised recently, at Badgaon village in Jhandutta constituency, about 50 km from here, state Mahila Congress president, Manbhari Devi, vowed to defeat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next parliamentary poll due in 2014.

She alleged the former BJP government in state of wasting its five years in hounding Congress leaders and stopping all developmental projects started by the Congress government. She also accused former Deputy Speaker and Jhandutta MLA, Rikhi Ram, of not taking any interest in the development of the area and promised that the current Congress government led by Virbhadra Singh would look into all the difficulties faced by the people of the state.

She asserted that the BJP faced the heat for its anti-people policies in the assembly election last year and it would certainly be defeated in next parliamentary poll, on all four seats in the state.

While addressing the congregation, state Congress Vice President and former MLA, Dr Biru Ram, said that the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had agreed to restart all the schemes and developmental project blocked by the BJP. Some of the schemes had already been started to benefit the villagers, he added.

Bilaspur district Mahila Congress president Anjana Dhiman, vice president Kala Chandel, Jhandutta Congress block president Om Parkash Chandel, vice president Jaswant Singh Chandel and several other leaders also addressed the conference.

Oel (Una), April 23
Vishnu Das Mehta, the patriarch of an industrial house here with branches in Haldwani, Kotla, Rudrapur and Nepal, is not an industrialist in the traditional sense of the term. Entrepreneurs run businesses primarily to make more and more wealth often for its own sake, but not people like Mehta. They constantly think of society’s well being also.

Where Mehta differs in his approach from others is that ever since the inception of his twin industries in 1972-1973 and 1994, he has been running his enterprises without wavering from his life-long mission of reviving the interest of the masses in the Vedic studies among our countrymen.

“The Vedas are the rock bottom of all dharmas. They alone can protect our Guru-shishya prampara enabling us to build a cultured and civilised society besides endowing us with unsurpassed peace and contentment, our lost treasures especially in the mindless pursuit of materialism as propagated by the West, says Mehta.

He has fervently taken up the cause of turning introvert among youngsters to escape the tortures of being extroverts that ultimately rob us of our peace of mind.

He quotes a thought by an author that “we should not keep nourishing the cause within (being extrovert) while fighting the effect without (loss of happiness, peace, and contentment).” Mehta is a devoted disciple of the late Sri Swami Maheshanand Giri. Inspired by his Guru, Mehta has set up Guru Shikhar Ved Vidyalyas to preserve, nourish and teach the philosophy of the Vedas to students in Oel (Una), Kotla, Mount Abu and Rudrapur (Uttarakhand).

He is also running Bal Sanskar Yojnas for children to teach them the eternal values of our civilisation in particular in Una, Varanasi and Allahabad. In this context, he quotes a recent The Tribune report that pointed out that “of the about 100 million elderly in India, one in every three faces abuse.” In Una district, there are 40-45 Bal Samskar, Nai Disha and Mahila Samskar Kendras. The children are also taught the Bhagvadgita and Sri Narhari’s path-breaking text on Vedanta and self-realisation, Bodhsar.

Children are given scholarships of Rs 150 to Rs 200 per month by the Mehta Charitable Pragyalya Trust set up by Mehta and his sons.

Mehta has established six major Shiva temples in different corners of the country: Panchayat Kalyaneshwar, Haldwani, 1967, Kotla Amrateshwar Mritunjay Bhagwan, 1970, Sri Raj Rajeshwar Bhagwan, Oel, 1973, Vednath Mahadev, Delhi, 1985, Uma Maheshwar Bhagwan, Nepal, 1985, and Giri Ishwar Bhagwan, Mount Abu, 2004. 

Tailpiece

“It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied” — John Stuart Mill

Striving to make voluntary blood donation a mass movement, the Sant Nirankari Mission organised its first camp of the year in the state capital early this week.

The mission organises such camps to pay tribute to its former head, Baba Gurbachan Singh, who lived and laid down his life for the cause of truth, peace, love, tolerance, human unity and service of mankind. The camp was a huge success with as many as 250 persons donating blood.

Inaugurating the camp, Joginder Kaur, Member In charge, Central Prachar Vibhag, Sant Nirankari Mandal, Delhi, said blood donation was a selfless service of humanity. The mission motivates its followers so that they donate blood with joy to help save precious lives and remain committed to the serve society.

She said the Sant Nirankari Mission was also deeply involved in the welfare of people and undertaking a host of philanthropic activities, besides blood donation camps. It was running schools, colleges, hospitals and other institutions.

Zonal In charge Rajwant Kaur said the Sant Nirankari Mission was purely a spiritual movement and it firmly believed that spiritual development went hand in hand with the social development. The message of Nirankari Baba to his followers was that “Nobody should die due to scarcity of blood and blood should circulate in the human veins, instead of flowing on the roads or in drains.” She said through this act, a blood relationship was developed between the donor and the person to who received it. Thus, it helped in cementing the basic bonds of humanity.

Local administrator of the mission NPS Bhullar highlighted the activities of the mission and said that the Nirankari volunteers were always ready to offer their services to the mankind during natural calamities or otherwise.

Solan, April 23
The Indian Association of Muscular Dystrophy (IAMD), Solan, held a month-long health camp in collaboration with the Delhi-based Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute for Physically Handicapped (Pt DDU IPH).

As many as six physiotherapists supported by six occupational therapists examined patients at the camp. It is for the second year in a row that the Pt DDU IPH organised this camp that was attended by around 50 patients from Solan and its nearby villages everyday.

Patients from faraway states such as Chattisgarh and Jharkhand also visited the camp to avail specialised therapy.

With virtually no cure being available for muscular dystrophy, its patients can get some relief only through physiotherapy.

The camp has helped in offering therapy to those affected by mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism and other disabilities.

The IAMD, established in 1992 as a non-profit organisation, has been working tirelessly for the cause of those affected by muscular dystrophy.

Vipul Goyal, Secretary, IAMD, while elaborating on the usefulness of the camp, said sufferers themselves shared their experience and the relief they provided.

Among patients who have benefited includes Atul Kumar from Chhattisgarh who could barely walk for 30 seconds. But following physiotherapy sessions he managed to walk for five to seven minutes.

Jain (65), whose finger movement has registered as much as 80 per cent improvement, is among the many persons who have benefited from the camp.

Muthu Ganapathy, senior physiotherapist, while explaining about muscular dystrophy, said its patients suffer from lack of awareness and each of us could play a role by sharing its symptoms and encouraging families to come forward to face it at an early stage. This could help in slowing down the rate of deterioration of the muscular dystrophy patients and appropriate care could be maintained through trained caregivers. The IAMD could be contacted at 094180-54877 for any information and help for the same.

The IAMD, based at Solan, works for the cause of those affected by muscular dystrophy through its three-fold objective of creating awareness, helping the patients cope with the disease effectively and extending support to the affected. Muscular dystrophy is a condition where muscles degenerate over time and may not be detectable at birth, though it could be traced through genetic mapping. However a series of tests can help in early detection and it is important to get this message out to as many people as possible.

Sundernagar, April 23
The HP State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, headed by its president Justice Surjit Singh (retired), holding its circuit at Mandi, while allowing a consumer appeal has directed Oriental Insurance Company, Mandi, to pay the appellant an amount of Rs 20,000 (towards the cost of a mule) with interest @ 9 per cent per annum.

The commission further directed the company to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation, along with Rs 3,000, as the cost of litigation. The commission allowed the appeal on the testimony of Vijay Kumar, agent of the company, who was examined before the commission recently.

As per details, Bhagat Ram of the Shiva Badar area of Mandi district purchased two mules that were insured with the insurance company and financed by the HP State Co-operative Bank, Pandoh. Afterwards, the tags issued to two mules were lost and information was given to the company through the financing bank. Consequently, new tags were issued by the bank. One of the mules died on June 8, 2010, on account of a fall.

The appellant submitted all relevant documents (postmortem report), along with the tag, to the insurance company, but the claim was rejected on the ground that no new tags were issued to the mules.

The Consumer Forum, Mandi, dismissed the complaint of the appellant while accepting the plea of the insurance company that new tags were not issued to the complainant.

The appellant filed an appeal before the commission. It directed the company to produce the record pertaining to the issuing of tags. The commission examined the agent (who was present) of the company, on oath. He admitted that new tags were issued to the appellant, including the tag, found on the ear of the dead mule.

Palampur, April 23
A book entitled “Gender Friendly Tools: Drudgery Reduction; Ergonomics for Women in Agriculture”, authored by Dr Jatinder Kishtwaria, Professor and Head of Department in HP Agricultural University, working for rural women, was released by the Agricultural Minister, Sujan Singh Pathania.

Dr Kishtwaria’s research work in generating an appropriate gender- friendly tool for hill farm women includes more than 20 tools with detailed specifications and cost so that they can be multiplied locally or at large scale commercially for the benefit of farm women.