International Women’s Day celebration at UHF Nauni

Nauni (Himachal Pradesh): The important role played by women in the development of every field particularly Agri-Horti activities is laudable. These views were expressed by Dr. Parvinder Kaushal during the International Women's Day celebrations at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni. The celebrations were organised in both online and offline mode by the University’s Grievance and Redressal Cell (WGRC) and were attended by women representatives from every department. Besides students and staff from the main campus, the faculty of COH&F at Neri and Thunag also took part in the event.

The event began with a soulful rendition of the ‘Nari Shakti’ song by the students. Dr. Sunita Chandel, Presiding Officer of WGRC talked about the theme of this year’s Women’s Day- ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID 19 world’. She said that the COVID period has shown us several examples of women leading from the forefront in every field. In her address, Dr. Anju Dhiman, Dean College of Horticulture, stressed on the need to educate both genders about the rights of women and called for participation from everyone. She said that Women's Day should not be limited to one day, but its ethos must be followed and celebrated every day.  

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Parvinder Kaushal said that it is heartening to see the percentage of girl students in the university rising with each passing year. He said that this was a result of the policies adopted by the government for women empowerment. Citing several examples at the National and International levels, Dr. Kaushal urged women staff and students of the university to utilize the entrepreneurship opportunities to display their leadership qualities to the world. Dr. Kaushal said that the students must utilize the tie-ups made by the university to develop successful entrepreneurship models. Dr. Kaushal said that the university will further look to develop other facilities for women, so that campus can not only become more women-friendly but also a role model for other campuses. Swati Sharma, legal expert and member of the WGRC of the university gave an insight into the legal aspects of the Women Harassment at Workplace Act. She briefed about the important details about the constitution of the committee in any workplace having more than 10 women.

Dr. DD Sharma and Seema Verma, both members of WGRC, the statutory officers, HODs and students also attended the event. Girls students, Neha Mishra, Smriti Pathania and Manisha Thakur, were honoured for their exemplary performance in academics and extracurricular activities. Dr. DD Sharma presented the vote of thanks.