Himachal scientist gets Jamnalal Bajaj award

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 12

Dr Lal Singh, Director, Himalayan Research Group (HRG), a local NGO, has been honoured with the non-government prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj award for Application of Science and Technology for Rural Development – 2021.

It is for the first time that a scientist from Himachal has been selected for this award. It is a rare achievement for a person coming from a rural background. Singh belongs to a remote Danghiiyara village in the Chachiot Assembly constituency of Mandi district.

“Driven by the urge to do something big and practical for the benefit of the farming community in the mountains, Dr Singh set up an NGO named “Himalayan Research Group” in 1997 with the help of like-minded professionals and friends,” says Sudesh Mahajan, Financial Advisor (HRG). The NGO is now a designated core group for Science for Equity, Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division of the Department of Science and Technology (Govt. of India) since 2005, he added.

The major initiatives undertaken by the HRG comprise solar water heating and room heating technology in mountain households, medicinal plants and mushroom cultivation and revival of native crops like buckwheat, barley, red rice and kidney beans. The group is also working on fodder development and silage technology.

In the past 24 years, the HRG has successfully implemented more than 40 projects funded by different national and international organizations. The innovative and need-based interventions have directly or indirectly benefited the local community in creation of new livelihood avenues, better financial earnings, and improvement in the quality of living.