SRINAGAR: A visit by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Nazir A Ganai, to the Voluntary Medicare Society in Bemina on Wednesday set the stage for a structured collaboration aimed at creating agriculture-based livelihood avenues for Persons with Disabilities. The Vice-Chancellor used the visit to outline specific areas where the university could directly support the empowerment of PwDs through agriculture and allied activities.
Prof Ganai led a senior delegation comprising the Director of Research, the Heads of Food Science, Floriculture, and Vegetable Science, and the Campus Development Officer. They were received by the VMS leadership, including Prof Mir Mohammad Maqbool, Founder and President, executive members, and the administration. The delegation toured the campus to assess how SKUAST-K could contribute to improving the landscape and developing the premises as a wellness and happiness centre.
The interaction between the two institutions is centred on sustainable livelihood solutions for PwDs. VMS detailed its existing vocational initiatives and highlighted areas where partnership with the university could expand skill-building opportunities. The SKUAST-K delegation expressed strong interest in working jointly on training modules, capacity-building programmes, and technical interventions tailored for PwDs.
Experts from SKUAST-K evaluated prospects for protected cultivation, crop diversification, and the development of demonstration plots that could serve both student training and beneficiary learning. Several PwDs held an interaction with the Vice-Chancellor’s team, expressing their desire to establish livelihood units at their homes. Prof Ganai instructed his officers to prepare a list of interested individuals so they could be linked with local Krishi Vigyan Kendras and line departments for support.
The proposed collaboration will encompass training in floriculture, protected cultivation, mushroom cultivation, and food processing; entrepreneurship development for PwDs; technical handholding for livelihood units; and research linkages, with VMS serving as a demonstration and practical exposure site for university students.
The visit concluded with the Vice-Chancellor commending VMS for more than fifty years of service to the disability sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The VMS leadership, in turn, appreciated the university’s commitment to extending technical expertise to strengthen livelihood options for PwDs. A group photograph marked the close of the engagement.
