Thursday, 30 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Noted educationist and former vice chancellor of HNB Garhwal University, AN Purohit has questioned the citation of the Padma awardee Anil Prakash Joshi.
In a programme held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan recently the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind had conferred Padma Bhushan to the founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) Anil Prakash Joshi.
Purohit said that the citation mentioned in the website of HESCO claims that Joshi left his government job to bring improvement in the lives of people of more than 10,000 villages. “Fortunately, I know this recipient very closely but I have yet to know the name of any village which has benefited with such a remarkable thing, especially in Uttarakhand. Certainly he has migrated from his paternal village and has acquired some land in Dehradun and has constructed a so-called village. It will be a great help if he could give a few names of the villages which have been benefited by his intervention,’’ he said.
Purohit told The Pioneer that he wants that a good example should be set before the youngsters of the state for achieving success. He said that Joshi had left his job because he was transferred from Kotdwar and not because he had any desire to work for villagers.
When contacted by The Pioneer Anil Prakash Joshi said that it would not be proper for him to react to such comments. Joshi however added that he has worked on the concept of resource based economy for the villages and his ideas on water mills (Gharat), water conservation and others have been adopted by many villages in Uttarakhand and country.
