Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has granted a one-year extension of its World Bank-funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir. 

NAHEP aims to re-orient agricultural education as per modern needs and raise the standard of the current agricultural education system that provides more jobs, is entrepreneurship oriented and on par with the global agriculture education standards. The project was awarded to SKUAST-K initially for three years in July 2019 with a financial outlay of about Rs 30 crore.

The one-year extension of the project was announced today during a function held to felicitate the coordinators, consultants and other staff after SKUAST-Kashmir was rated among the best performers among 58 agricultural institutions of higher education and research in the country during the recently held annual review of the project. 

Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir, Prof JP Sharma was the chief guest and Deputy Director General Education ICAR and National Director NAHEP, Dr RC Agarwal was the guest of honour of the function. National Coordinator NAHEP Dr Ramasundaram together with Directors, Deans, Registrar, other officers of University and University Scientists comprising Core Coordinators of NAHEP, Faculty Coordinators, Innovation Ambassadors and NAHEP staff attended the function that was conducted in hybrid mode (Offline online). The Vice-Chancellor felicitated Director Planning & Monitoring and Principal Investigator NAHEP, Professor Nazir Ahmad Ganai and his entire team of Core Coordinators, Faculty Coordinators, Innovation Ambassadors and NAHEP staff for their contribution by virtue of which IDP-NAHEP of SKUAST-Kashmir was rated among the best performers. He complimented the NAHEP team for their hard work and assured of all administrative support for the sustainability of the reform process initiated under NAHEP even after the project support is over.

National Director NAHEP Dr RC Aggarwal in his address lauded SKUAST-Kashmir for effective implementation of the institutional development plan of SKUAST-K. He hoped that SKUAST-K will develop a Model Agricultural Higher Education Setup for the whole Country.  Dr P Ramasundaram, National Coordinator NAHEP complimented SKUAST-Kashmir for achieving all the targets and meeting all the timelines of the project implementation. The innovative approach adopted by SKUAST-K during the implementation of the project to circumvent the limitations imposed by continuous lockdowns was also highlighted. 

Mementoes and Appreciation Certificates were awarded to NAHEP Coordinators and Staff. Directors Research, Prof Sarfaraz A Wani, Director Education, Professor MN Khan, Dean Students Welfare, MA Siddiqui, Dean Horticulture Prof AH Hakim also spoke on the occasion. Two Faculty members currently on overseas training in the USA and Turkey joined the event through virtual mode and shared their experiences about international exposure they got because of the NAHEP support. Prof Azmat Alam Khan, Associate Director Research & Coordinator NAHEP conducted the proceedings, Prof MA Baqal, Associate Dean College of Sericulture welcomed the guests and Prof FA Zaki, HRM consultant proposed the vote of thanks.