Himachal: Residents protest proposed shifting of medicinal plants board centre from Mandi to Nauni varsity

Local residents held a protest march in support of their demand for the revocation of the decision to shift the Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre (RCFC) of the National Medicinal Plants Board from Jogindernagar in Mandi district to Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni in Solan district.

The RCFC Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, which has been opposing the proposed relocation of the centre, organised the protest. The protesters said that the centre was an important institution for farmers, promoting medicinal and herbal plant cultivation and helping them diversify from traditional agriculture. The centre also provided laboratory-certified quality seeds and nursery material to them to improve their farm productivity and income, they added.

The protesters gave the Central Government a one-week ultimatum to withdraw the decision. They threatened to launch a massive agitation, including staging a ‘chakka jam’ on the key highways of the region, if the decision was not revoked.

The sangharsh samiti said that memorandums had already been submitted to the Prime Minister, Union Ayush Minister, state Ayush Minister, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Governor Kavinder Gupta seeking their intervention for resolving the issue immediately.

Samiti president Guru Sharan Parmar and district council member Kushal Bhardwaj stated that their agitation would continue until the decision was revoked. The protesters appealed to the Central Government and the Union Ayush Ministry to retain the centre at Jogindernagar in the larger interests of farmers, employees and the people of the region.