Hiranagar: Girdhari Lal Dogra Memorial Govt Degree College Hiranagar organised a poster making and paper reading competition on scientific interventions and food security in the hinterlands.
The programme was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, India Chapter Jammu. The chief guest on the occasion was Prof. R.N Gohil, Secretary, The National Academy of Sciences India, Jammu Chapter. Prof Manoj K Dhar , former Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu was the guest of honor and special guest on the occasion was Dr Susheel Verma, Prof Department of Botany, University of Jammu.
The welcome address on the occasion was presented by Dr. Pragya Khanna, Principal of the college. She highlighted the need to have scientific interventions to address the growing needs of food and how the institutions like NSAI are collaborating with different institutions to meet the challenge. She also underlined the different initiatives and ventures of the college in the direction.
Prof. Neha Bhagat, Organizing Secretary and Head Department of Environmental Sciences in her address enlightened the audience on the need to organise such a programme. She said that meeting the security of a balanced food could by and large be met by hinterlands only and the dissemination of different ideas and experiments through such programmes is the need of the day.
Prof. Manoj K Dhar in his address said that scientific knowledge and interventions is the key to meeting the issue of food scarcity. He advocated that biotechnology and genetic engineering at different levels could be employed to enhance food productivity. He also called upon students to develop a passion for science by specifying examples from his personal experiences.
Prof. Susheel Sharma said that India’s position in the global hunger index is a worrisome state. In spite of a number of initiatives by the Govt of India the position of the country has been improved in the global hunger index. Therefore the need of the time is to widen the enthusiasm for scientific intrusion in hinterlands.
Prof. R.N. Gohil in his presidential address praised the Principal and the college in organising and providing a platform to different institutions to discuss and ponder on issues of such relevance. He also appreciated the efforts of the participants who took part in the poster making and paper reading competition. Prof. Gohil enlightened the gathering about the works and programmes of the National Academy of Sciences India which is an oldest society of the country which was established 92 years ago. The society now has 21 chapters spanning across the nation. The society is constituted of fellows, advisors and members.