Passing out function of 124th batch of 4 - month “Certificate Course on Soil & Water Conservation & Watershed Management” was organized at ICAR – Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun (Uttarakhand) on 7th February, 2023. It is one of the unique training programs in the country addressing the issues related to natural resource (soil, water and vegetation) management that mitigate the impact of climate change and helps to ensure livelihood, nutritional and environmental security in the country. The four month programme was organized from 8th October, 2022 to 7th February, 2023 at the Institute Hqrs., Dehradun. A total of 27 Officers representing four states (Punjab-13; Meghalaya-3; Chattisgarh-5; Jammu and Kashmir-4) and two Scientists from ICAR-IISWC participated in the programme of which two women Officer Trainees were there.

Sh. Bharat Jyoti, IFS, Director, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun graced the occasion as Chief Guest and gave away the Merit Certificates to the Officer trainees of the 124th batch. The overall merit certificate of 124th batch was bagged by Mr. Amit Kumar from Punjab for his excellent performance during the entire training program. Mr. Amit Kumar was also awarded merit certificate for his performance in Conservation Engineering, Conservation Forestry, Local Project. Merit for Soil Management for Controlling Land Degradation was bagged by Dr. Anupam Barh, Scientist, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun while Mr. Kisan Kumar from Chhattisgarh received the certificate of merit for Conservation Agronomy The Certificate of Merit for Integrated Watershed Management was jointly given to Dr. Ravi Dupdal, Sr. Scientist, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun and Mr. Amit Kumar, SCO, Punjab. Merit Certifcates for the Study Tour was jointly awarded to Dr. Anupam Barh, Scientist, ICAR-IISWC and Mr. Amit Kumar from Punjab.

Hon’ble Chief Guest, Sh. Bharat Jyoti, Director, IGNFA in his Valedictory address mentioned about the importance of keeping the innocence and inquisitiveness of a child alive in each individual to learn new things as we grow in our profession. He highlighted the importance of networking, collaboration and convergence in the field of soil conservation, agriculture and forestry to execute work at the field level. As young and energetic new professionals in the field of Soil and Water Conservation, he urged the trainee Officers to be more adaptive and flexible with the changing time and perspectives.

Dr. M. Madhu, Director, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun in his address urged that the trainees while working in the challenging situations must understand the need of the people for whom the work is targeted. He stressed on the importance of humility and humbleness while dealing with the farming community and maintain the liasioning with the Institute.

Dr. D.V. Singh, Head (HRD&SS) Division presented the over all training report of the four month Certificate Course. Experts in different fields were invited from esteemed Institutes to cover the subjects on the basis of feedback of earlier batches.

During the feedback session, the participants acknowledged and appreciated the efforts made by the ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun in successful organization of the training programme and also gave some critical inputs for further improvement in the course curriculum. The 124th Batch Certificate Course was sucessfully coordinated by Dr. Matbar Singh Rana, Sr. Scientist and Dr. Trisha Roy, Scientist from Division of HRD&SS. Dr. Matbar Singh proposed a formal vote of thanks at the end of the function and expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to each individual who helped in completion of the training program. Dr. Trisha Roy presented a formal welcome address on this occassion. The program was attended by Dr. Charan Singh, I/c Head (Plant Science), Dr. D. Mandal, I/c Head (Soil Science and Agronomy) National Fellow, Er. S. S. Shrimali, Dr. Bankey Bihari, Dr. Rajesh Kaushal, Dr. Lekh Chand, Dr. Indu Rawat, Dr. Uday Mandal, Dr. Rama Pal, Dr. Abhimanyu Jhajriya, Sh. Ashok Kumar, Sh. M.P. Juyal, Sh. K.R.Joshi, Sh. Anil Kumar and other technical officers and supporting staff of the Institute. The passing out function was sucessfully coordinated by the entire HRD&SS Division under the able guidance of Dr. D.V. Singh, Head I/c HRD&SS Division with the support and co-operation of Dr. Matbar Singh, Dr. Trisha Roy, Dr. Abhimanyu Jhajhriya, Dr. Lekh Chand, Dr. Indu Rawat, Sh. K.R. Joshi, Sh. M.P. Juyal, Smt. Lata Bhanwar, Sh. Kamal Kishore, Ms. Neha, Sh. Naresh and Ms. Akansha.