Special focus should be laid on research in the sphere of higher education. Research should be conducted on regional development and community development conducive to the lifestyle of the people. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said this while chairing a meeting to review the higher education department here on Tuesday.

The chief minister said that attention should be paid to how results can be achieved from research based on the requirements of the local people. Along with the universities, the colleges also need to take serious initiatives in this direction.

He asked the vice chancellor of the Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Horticulture and Forestry University, Bharsar, to focus on training local people according to their needs and available resources.The universities should lay special focus on outcome not output, he stressed. Rawat further said that the universities should also follow up on the people they have trained. Referring to the university in Bharsar, he said that it should be seen that this university established in the mountainous regions benefits the villages of the region as much as possible. If the university pays attention to the development of its 10 nearby villages, the other other villages will also benefit from it. The university will also have to come forward to boost the state’s traditional products and their better marketing, he said.

Rawat said, “There is a considerable quantity of herbs in the state and there should be an effort towards their cultivation. It is the moral duty of universities to see to it that the traditional products are encouraged and that the local people also benefit from it. If general Thimayya’s daughter can do a Bicchu Ghas (stinging nettle) tea business at Kausani, why can’t our people also do it? There is also a need to boost self confidence among the local people,” stressed the CM.

The State minister for Higher Education, Dhan Singh Rawat, MLA Diwan Singh Bisht, chief secretary Om Prakash, principal secretary Anand Bardhan, secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram along with vice chancellors and officials of various universities were also present in the meeting.