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India leader concerned about Himalayas and youth

18.09.2014

A Member of India’s Parliament told a group gathered by  the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA) on 13 September 2014 at Nainital, in the northwestern region of Uttarakhand, that the wellbeing of India depends on the wellbeing of the Himalayan Region. Efforts to save the environment, natural resources and culture of the Himalayas and its people are the need of hour and India calls on youth to initiate actions in these directions, said Tarun Vijay, an expert on Himalayan issues, who serves on several Parliamentary committees.

Quality education, health services, effective transportation and well established infrastructure are the key to initiate development in the Indian Himalayan region and to check outmigration Vijay said, sharing his grassroots experiences in the mountains and expressed concern that the Himalayan region has yet to receive attention from various levels of the government. He spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent initiatives  to meet the developmental aspirations of mountain regions and their people. 

P. P. Dhyani, Director of GBP Institute for Himalayan Environment and Development, expressed his concern on involving youth in emerging research issues in the Himalayan region.  He shared the initiative taken by his institute to bring youth researchers from the 12 Himalayan states in country to a common platform and to given an opportunity to discussion issues of mutual concern and collaborative in research.   S. P. Singh of the Forest Research Institute recalled the valuation of the ecosystem services emanating from the Himalayan region and supported Vijay’s urging the involvement of youth in developmental interventions and environmental safeguards.  

Pushkin Phartiyal, CHEA Executive Director, shared that in 2014 the association organized environmental awareness competitions in five categories for students that included painting, caption the photograph, story writing on environmental issues, etc. An exhibition of the award winning entries was also organized at the event which was inaugurated by Tarun Vijay. P. D. Pant  of CHEA informed the house that in all 1 094 entries were received from all the schools in vicinity under all the five categories and winners were awarded with a memento and certificate. Shekher Pathak, Anup Sah, Subrat Sharma, Ashish Tewari, M. S. Pal, former Member of Parliament, and others presented the prizes.

The memorial lecture was attended by large gathering representing sectors of academia, social workers, students and people concerned for Himalayan environment and development.
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