LUDHIANA, NOVEMBER 29:-"Youth is a symbol of dynamism, social transformation and progress throughout the world. It is an asset, provided we harness it in an effective and useful manner". This was stated by Dr. Gurbachan Singh, Chairman Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) while addressing the convocation and prize distribution function of College of Home Science at Punjab Agricultural University, today. Expressing concern that a significant youth workforce is shifting from agriculture to non-agricultural activities, Dr. Singh said efforts are already underway at the national level to harness and utilize this important resource in an effective way. ‘Home scientist can play a key role by providing skill-based vocational training for income generation in areas such as food preparation, processing and preservation, production of handicrafts, stitching, knitting and weaving, he said.
Dr. Singh added, that women can play a crucial role in agriculture and rural development as they constitute about 60 percent of the total agricultural labour. Majority of activities related to post harvest and livestock management are in the hands of women and they spend 3-6 hours a day in performing these activities. Mainstream of women in agriculture is extremely important for inclusive growth and development of rural future in the country, he said.
Dr. Singh also expressed concern that lower number of PAU graduates are competing for Junior Research Fellowships, Senior Research Fellowships and ARS-NET (National Eligibility Test). "Having a healthy competition is crucial for an individual’s personal growth", he remarked adding that this will also help PAU in getting better rating among farm varsities at the national level.
He had a word of advice for the graduates, "Do not measure your success by promotions or achieving targets but by your sense of satisfaction that you get by making lives better of the underprivileged ones, thus making the world a better place".
Dr. Singh gave away the Baljinder Kaur Brar Memorial Prize for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 to Anupriya Singh, Dipti Chowdhary and Payal Bansal. The students securing first, second and third positions during different years of their graduation programmes were also given prizes.
PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Baldev Singh Dhillon presided over the convocation and gave away degrees and diplomas to the students. A total of 148 degrees and diplomas were awarded. Besides, three gold medals and twelve certificates of merit were also awarded.
Earlier, Dr. Neelam Grewal, Dean, College of Home Science, while giving a report of the College activities informed that course curricula of graduate and postgraduate programmes have been revised as per the guidelines of ICAR. She informed that College of Home Science is pioneer among all SAUs to introduce B. Sc. in Nutrition and Dietetics’ in 2009 and M. Sc. in Fashion Designing in 2011. Sharing the future plans, she said that in the emerging educational scenario the College has developed learning management system to facilitate the e-learning process for undergraduate students. She highlighted that to revive the traditional crafts of Punjab, the College has planned to identify the skill hubs, form self help groups and sustain them through training, credit and market linkages.
Present on the occasion were the former PAU Vice Chasncellor, Dr Manjit Singh Kang; Members of PAU Board of Management Dr Jaspinder Singh Kolar and Mr Jang Bahadhur Singh Sangha; former Deans of College of Home Science PAU, Dr (Mrs) S.K. Mann and Dr ( Mrs) M.K.Dhillon. In addition, Deans, Directors and officers of PAU were present.
