Experts share their vision of Uttarakhand @ 25  in the 4th RS Tolia Forum Dehradun

The 4th RS Tolia Forum (RST Forum) was organized by Sustainable Development Forum Uttaranchal (SDFU) in Dehradun on Friday. RST Forum is a program dedicated to Former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Late. Dr. R S  Tolia who had passed away in the year 2016.This program  has been organized for the last four years focusing on the environment and development dialogue, especially in the Himalayan states.

RST Forum is organized by SDFUwhich is  a civic organization working on policy for the sustainable development of Uttarakhand.

The main program of the 4th RST Forum were RS Tolia Memorial Lecture and Youth Dialogue. The program started with the welcome of Treasurer Dr. GS Rawat and prayer hymn to Ms. Gatha Akashkamini.

SDFU has been making consistent efforts to keep the youth engaged  in the development dialogue of the state. This year also a program was themed as “Voice of Youth”. In this session, young professionals working in different professions in hilly areas of the state spoke about their dreams and how they are making them into reality. In this session Ms. Vasanthi of Peoli, Ms. Shirsha Pant, Mr. Bachan Singh Rawat, Mr. Ajay Kandari and Mr. Yogesh Garbyal ji shared their experiences.

Dr. Rajendra Dobhal, President, SDFU and Director, UCOST, welcomed all the guests and introduced the  keynote speaker. In his RS Tolia Memorial Lecture, former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, Mr. N Ravi Shankar presented 3I model- Industry, Infrastructure and Institution – for development of Uttarakhand by 2025. To move forward in this direction, Uttarakhand needs to strengthen its education, health and tourism infrastructure along with providing leadership training to grassroot leaders at village level. He also shared a 4P – Public-Private-Panchayat Partnership model for bottom up development.

Dr. Aditya Narayan Purohit, Shri NS Napalchyal, Shri Surendra Singh Pangti, Dr. BK Joshi and Dr. BS Barfal and other experts shared their views on this occasion. Everyone agreed that striking a balance between development and environment is the biggest need of the day. Development is necessary for Uttarakhand to move forward continuously and environment to sustain life. Speakers underlined  the importance of sustainable development.

welcomed all the guests involved in the forum.

Shri Sameer Sinha, Government of Uttarakhand, Mr. Manoj Pant, Additional Chief Executive Officer of Center for Public Policy and Good Governance, Shri Narendra Jangpangi (IRS), SDFU General Secretary Binita Shah, Anoop Nautiyal,Krishna Singh Rautela, Priyanka Tolia, Kusum Rawat, officer from UCOST and many other eminent members of civil society were present at the event.