{"id":1634,"date":"2020-08-10T10:49:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T05:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/?p=1634"},"modified":"2020-08-10T10:49:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T05:04:40","slug":"we-will-make-an-amazing-himachal-says-amit-sood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/we-will-make-an-amazing-himachal-says-amit-sood.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe \u00a0\u00a0will make \u00a0\u00a0an\u00a0 \u00a0Amazing Himachal.\u201d Says Amit Sood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Yes,\u00a0 Himachal Pradesh is a beautiful state in northern India.\u00a0 Undoubtedly, The youth \u00a0are coming up with new projects to make all-round development of the state.\u00a0 In this direction, a \u00a0lad Amit \u00a0Sood \u00a0from \u00a0Kangra District, H.P.<\/strong> is also doing commendable efforts. He is the founder of an NGO- Himalayan Development & Funding Society.\u00a0 Recently, \u00a0\u00a0Sr. Journalist-Author S.S.Dogra- Bureau Chief-Delhi, India for Himalini Media Group<\/strong> interacted him.\u00a0 Let\u2019s chalk out what he says all about his life journey:<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Where you born & brought up?<\/p>\n

AS: \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Born on 9th<\/sup> February,1981. Sir since dad was in Army my birthplace is Udhampur J &K<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Where you got the Formal education-Name your school\/college?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Schooling.\u00a0\u00a0 Kendrick vidyalya Yol Cantt.\u00a0 Kangra HP, College : Hotel management- IHM KUFRI SHIMLA. Then did MBA and few certifications (Symbiosis, ISB)<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Your parents profession (Mother-Father)<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Mother is a retired teacher\u00a0 & Father was an Army Officer (passed away in 2011)<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>What were your most favourite activities during your childhood?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Swimming in local rivulets, Trekking to Dhauladhar . I have always been fascinated with planes & Bikes.<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>What was your ambition to become , just after getting your adulthood?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>I always wanted to be an Entrepreneur and social activist so that I can work for my land , my people . It\u2019s still long way to go sir .<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Why have you shifted to your native land,\u00a0 leaving\u00a0 all the luxurious city life?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Sir I still operate at times from Chandigarh but slowly going to increase my time in village to get things on ground quickly . As I\u2019m hopeful that post\u00a0 December, 2020 things will be different .\u00a0 Things are going to change for good. And mental peace I get while I\u2019m in village can\u2019t be explained. So it\u2019s in our heart\u00a0 and soul. I miss the mountain backdrop in city . Luxury is a silent killer so need to moderate that.<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>What are your main activities, presently you are involved in?<\/p>\n

AS: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>I have been always eagerly working on social cause around, like was working closely with Chief Minister Himachal on data analysis and getting people back home ( on unofficial platform sharing regular inputs which were duly followed by them which helped thousand of stranded people reach back home. And \u00a0to shape and scale that up social work have founded a NGO \u2013 HDFS ( Himalayan Development & Funding society) and our NGO \u00a0is registered with Himachal Pradesh Government. Sir, currently, \u00a0we are working on HDFS NGO-\u00a0 Mask a Human – Project\u00a0 and to add more revenue streams into it. We initiated a mask donation campaign with internal funds and friends joined hand with help of ladies from our village ( initial members \u2013 Charit Kumar, Anjana Devi, Mukul kumar, Manish Kumar ,Pammi devi,\u00a0 & Abhinav ). They all contributed in their own way and strength.\u00a0 Also taking it to \u00a0national commercial platforms. \u00a0<\/strong>Secondly village tourism, as I have a feeling post this pandemic domestic tourism on lesser known places like remote villages will flourish rest depends how much we can pull to Himachal Pradesh.\u00a0\u00a0 At the initial level , there were no funds , where I introduced a concept & started\u00a0 a campaign:\u00a0 \u201cMask a Human\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDonate a mask\u201d How does this work \u2013 we promote this online people donate 50 Rs for a mask which goes to these rural ladies they sew & handcraft a mask which then is distributed to poor by HDFS. So its helps two people at the same time .<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SSD:<\/strong> What is your main object of your life?<\/p>\n

AS:<\/strong> Sir, my main objective is to see a peaceful happy people till whatever extent I can create that will work towards it\u00a0 will keep touching lives and keep moving .<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Why do you keep yourself busy in Social work? Any specific reason, please explain.<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Sir , my father after his retirement , was the inspiration for the same , he use to organize medical and veterinary camps in interior rural areas and that use to really help people , after 9 years of his death people still remember him and come looking for him I think that\u2019s what you earn in your life time ..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>So that\u2019s my inspiration<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>How do you manage your fund whosoever you earn? Please elaborate your source of income.<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Sir I worked in corporate for good 16 years now from last two years I have joined hands in 2-3 startup\u2019s\u00a0 one into home stays in Himachal\u00a0 one into digital marketing and offline marketing which is generating my livelihood and growing . Our NGO so far is running on our own funding , once we will get into bigger projects we will approach Govt. I\u2019m sure they will support .<\/p>\n

SSD: Any <\/strong>Message for the youth.<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Sir, message is clearly on something that worries me. Increase of drugs penetration specially in Himachal after Punjab is worrisome. I request all youth to get engaged in social work it will get you peace of mind for which you get on wrong track, moreover doing for own people will give your confidence back.\u00a0\u00a0 Have confidence you can achieve what you think of keep long term goals and work towards them.\u00a0 And you will surely achieve. Also request parents let your kids decide their future. Don\u2019t force engineering on them,\u00a0\u00a0 trust them and support them .<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>Your special achievement-during your stay in Himachal Pradesh.<\/p>\n

AS:<\/strong> Way to go sir , well in my college days my recipes of salad was shortlisted nationally and our family picture was printed on 10 million packs of Kurkure by Pepsi lays . Rest I\u2019m doing my bit and looking forward to achieve many mile stones with my NGO – HDFS\u00a0 \u00a0Himalayan Development & Funding Society. Through which we were able to provide some income to rural women by mask making and at the same time we were able to cover more than one thousand people from street labour\u00a0 With masks which they couldn\u2019t buy or afford. So that\u2019s a beginning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SSD:<\/strong>. What are the main drawbacks (problems) of Himachal suffering from?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Being a Tourism state no proper tourism policy, Poor tourism infrastructure and No marketing for local produce are few major problems.<\/p>\n

SSD: <\/strong>How these hurdle can be solved-your insight vision or suggestion?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>We hardly get any share of quality tourist because of : poor infrastructure- roads are bad , no Train connectivity and flights are limited to ATR CRAFT OR choppers. So, it\u2019s very important to improve infrastructure & connectivity that\u2019s the Mantra. We have a lot to showcase\u00a0 and sell but we are no where so far – way to go. Need to market our products extensively.\u00a0 One small example is Bhuttico – so your kullu shawl reached Paris through exhibitions.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible just that some work to be done.<\/p>\n

SSD:<\/strong> How can employment\/income\u00a0 can be generated in the villages of hills?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Sir I believe that we need to showcase our Himachal properly. There\u2019s a lot of undermined potential we just need to focus on villages and we will find so many opportunities. Govt. \u00a0also comes up with policies\u00a0 but \u00a0there is lack of communication to the end user.\u00a0 I believe that\u2019s why they are not participating in the main stream.\u00a0 We need these schemes in reverse manner what is required in village scheme should be based on that not that there is scheme by Govt. and \u00a0\u00a0we have to work that way. Area of\u00a0\u00a0 improvement\u00a0 for\u00a0\u00a0 Govt.\u00a0 We will work on this as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SSD:<\/strong> Any future project \u2013you are planning in and around your village?<\/p>\n

AS:<\/strong> \u00a0Yes Dogra sir, Let me elaborate them step by step:<\/p>\n

1\u00a0 Rural tourism – showcasing village , make people work in farm , stay in mud house , let your kids play in the mud , in the field, they see how vegetable are grown , how farmer live , rural crafts.\u00a0 Local fruits , trek .\u00a0\u00a0 Trail walk … list is endless sir we can show them a new life \u00a0and at the same time a sustainable village .<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Herbal \/ Ayurvedic \u00a0product including Kangra Tea which was All time favourite of Britishers lacks marketing today , we have so many medicinal plants in abundance but they need to be marketed.<\/li>\n
  2. Volunteer Tourism – Also working on this , we will get volunteers to build our village – by painting , cleaning , educating our people , setting up IT infrastructure\u00a0 etc.\u00a0 also to skill train locals and make them self sufficient. They will be provided food and stay in the villages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A way to go sir – I normally don\u2019t seek from politicians but one quote by Mr Lalu Prashad Yadav in IIM Ahmedabad CASE STUDY . Never leaves my mind. For success of Railways he said rural thumbrule is \u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgar bhains ka poora doodh nahi nikalo ge to wo bimar ho jayegi\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 So we need to utilize all resources To optimum level to make village a Self sustainable.\u00a0 Thanks for motivating\u00a0 \u00a0and encouraging youth , If we have people like you guiding us I\u2019m sure we will make an \u00a0Amazing & Incredible Himachal. Jai Hind<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    SSD: <\/strong>\u00a0How can a person monitor your NGO\u2019s \u00a0\u00a0activities & access you?<\/p>\n

    AS: <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Sir this is the age of\u00a0 internet connectivity, Anybody can access us through www.reachhdfs.wordpress.com<\/a> and contact Email ID:reachhdfs@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

    Follow us : \u00a0Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Hdfs-109748714094022\/<\/a>, \u00a0\u00a0Instagram : Reachhdfsand communicate any message at our official What\u2019s No.9357333327.<\/p>\n

    \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yes,\u00a0 Himachal Pradesh is a beautiful state in northern India.\u00a0 Undoubtedly, The youth \u00a0are coming up with new projects to make all-round development of the state.\u00a0 In this direction, a \u00a0lad Amit \u00a0Sood \u00a0from \u00a0Kangra District, H.P. is also doing commendable efforts. He is the founder of an NGO- Himalayan Development & Funding Society.\u00a0 Recently, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,16,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-opinion","category-top-stories-of-madhesh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Amit-Sood.jpg?fit=533%2C478&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paS11m-qm","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalini.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}