Shimla: Kavinder Gupta, the Himachal Pradesh governor and chancellor of Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, on Monday unveiled a 100-day roadmap for youth development, focusing on skill development, entrepreneurship, employment generation and sustainable rural livelihoods in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’.The roadmap, prepared under the Chancellor’s Inter-University Viksit Bharat Task Force, aims to bridge the gap between academic education and industry requirements by equipping young people with practical skills and encouraging them to become job creators rather than job seekers.Gupta said Himachal Pradesh’s strength in horticulture, forestry and allied sectors offered immense opportunities for entrepreneurship and rural economic growth. He stressed the need to connect academic learning with market demands and emerging economic opportunities.The roadmap envisages hands-on training in orchard management, grafting, nursery production, protected cultivation, mushroom farming, beekeeping, tissue culture, soil testing, agroforestry, and value addition.It also includes business planning, industry internships, experiential learning and market linkages. Special emphasis will be laid on rural youth, women, tribal communities, self-help groups and farmer producer organisations.The governor expressed confidence that effective implementation would strengthen rural livelihoods, promote self-reliance and create new employment opportunities.
