Mysuru: Dr. Renu Agarwal, former Chief Scientist of CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru, has been nominated to the National Task Force Committee for a period of three years by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology (DST), for Guiding and Mentoring Cluster Development Project in Uttarakhand.

During the birth centenary celebrations of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay, the SEED Division of DST initiated a Cluster Development programme in Uttarakhand in association with UCOST, Dehradun. Under the aegis of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana, a pilot has been launched at four locations — Gaindikhata (Haridwar), Bazeera (Rudraprayag), Bhigun (Tehri) and Kausani (Bageshwar) — in the State that would entail knowledge of various experts and motivators for holistic advancement at grassroots level through S&T interventions.

The Task Force, headed by Padma Shri Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Chairman, Graniodaya Network, N. Delhi, comprises B.K. Bhatt, Scientist, MNRE, New Delhi; Dr. Renu Agarwal, former Chief Scientist, CFTRI; Dr. Vibha Gupta, Magan Sanghralaya, Wardha, Maharashtra; Prof. Shivendra K. Kashyap, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand; Dilip Surkar, Director, VIKSAT, Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Arun Dhand, Director, UPES, Dehradun, Uttarakhand; Dr. Sharad Srivastava, Principal Scientist, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, UP; Dr.  A.K. Singh, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal, Haryana; Dr. G.S. Jarial, former Consultant, MPCOST, Bhopal, MP; Paramjit Singh, Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Chandigarh; Dr. Shilpi Paul, Scientist E, SERB, New Delhi; Dr. Rashmi Sharma, Scientist E, SEED Division, DST.