Since its inception in 2021, FRVCD holding regular discussions on socio-economic development

Knowledge is a trusted source of economic and social development. For factoring in knowledge in the development process, policy makers and producers of knowledge need to come together. Retired Vice-Chancellors and Directors of public universities and medical institutions settled in the tricity of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula have taken an initiative in this direction by forming a think tank, namely, “Forum of Retired Vice Chancellors and Directors (FRVCD)”. Since its inception in 2021, the FRVCD has been holding regular discussions on socio-economic development, with a focus on education and research, food & nutritional security, and healthcare in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh. 

In its meeting held on May 20, 2022, the Forum deliberated on roadmap for the development of the North-western region and opined that the region, especially Punjab and Haryana contributed to phenomenal growth of agricultural sector and ensured food security for the nation . However, input-intensive agriculture has stressed the water and soil resources, biodiversity and the environment.  The agriculture -led model, now requires greater emphasis on sustainability and agro-industrial networking.  It is the right time to explore alternative models of development. 
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At present, different sectors are developed in isolation of each other. The alternative model of development should harness the potential of linkages among primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.  The region suffers from many constrains as compared to coastal states and hence, the Forum strongly recommends the federal and state governments should create industry and service sector-friendly policy environment for the promotion of smart technology and knowledge driven industries and services, which fortunately are land saving and use light weight raw material which is transport cost effective to import. For the promotion of high tech and knowledge-based industries, the state governments should set up knowledge-industry corridors in the areas having high concentration of universities, research and medical institutions. The Forum also suggested the development of products and technologies which ensure sustainable development of agriculture as well as improved livelihood for the farmers. Further, the Government should incentivise farmers to adopt water saving crops and technologies, and promote rural industrialisation led by farmers’ cooperatives. Generation of power from crop residuals can further add to farmer’s income and conserve environmental resources. . 

Public institutions in all areas particularly in education, agriculture and health have played a pivotal role in economic and social development. Recognizing their importance and services, and to enable these institutions to continue generating knowledge and developing products, technologies and innovations for different sectors,  the FRVCD suggested greater state patronage by allocating handsome funds on priority. For making effective evidence- based public policies, the governments of the region should evolve an institutional mechanism for stronger involvement of experts in policy processes by constituting suitable advisory councils. 
 
The press statement is jointly issued by :  Dr Arun K Grover, Former Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh ; Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Former Vice Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana; Dr Bhura Singh Ghuman, Former Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala; Dr Girish Sahni, Former Director General, CSIR, New Delhi ; Dr Hari Chand Sharma, Former Vice Chancellor, YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, HP; Dr Jagat Ram, Former Director, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh; Dr Jai Rup Singh, Former Vice Chancellor, Central University Punjab, Bathinda and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Dr Rakesh Tuli, Former Executive Director, DBT- National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali; Dr Shivinder Singh Gill, Former Vice Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot and Dr Sarabjit Singh Chahal, Former Vice Chancellor, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur and Khalsa University, Amritsar