About Us
HimVani is an online grassroots journalism initiative with a mandate to give voice to concerned citizenry within the state and its diaspora on social and developmental issues concerning Himachal Pradesh. HimVani is a not-for-profit effort having its roots in the passion and love we feel for the state; not a mere thanksgiving but also a gesture to give back something to the state. It was initiated as a Voice of Himachal (VOH) initiative to generate public awareness and responsiveness towards development in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.
How is HimVani different from other news entities?
HimVani has strived to be a solution provider and not a grievance forum. While we’ve highlighted the grey areas, HimVani has been an effort to work at the grassroots and come up with solutions for those areas. One such effort was a suggestion to the tourism department to provide training to dhaba-wallas on the Shimla Kalka highway on basic cleanliness and Himachali cuisine. We also wanted to highlight the development work going on at the grassroots level. HimVani just doesn’t believe in reporting, but solutions as well. That’s why we love to call ourselves as a think-tank and grassroots journalists.
Does HimVani have an ideology or agenda?
At HimVani we have strived to provide solutions at the grassroots while highlighting the grey areas, rather than being merely a grievance forum. We must add here that HimVani does not have an ideological or an activist stance or agenda. This is in principal a democratic platform where we encourage pluralism and diversity in views. Our moderation is limited only to ensuring readability and public propriety. We seek to provide, any body, who has any thing to say, but does not have the means to say it with a platform which leads to the emergence of an informed public opinion. We believe that ultimately the truth shall triumph.
For more information on how HimVani intends to be helpful in the state’s development and what has it already contributed please visit our FAQ and Get to Know HimVani pages.
| Core Team | |
| Maverick
Varun has completed his masters in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat. He is a recipient of AMUL – TATA and IRMA fellowships. A social entrepreneur since college days, he was instrumental in establishing one of the first tele-centre in Dharamshala serving the local community. The centre offered free computer courses to elderly people. Varun voluntarily looks into administrative and technology related issues for HimVani. Nirvan Journalist by profession, he works as with one of the leading English dailies in Chandigarh. His commitment and zeal to contribute to the development of Himachal drives him to spare time for mobilizing, writing and editing content for HimVani. Vaani Based in Shimla, Vaani is a journalist with one of the leading English dailies. She lends all round support – writing and editing for Himvani, mobilizing content, and when need arises, liaisons for Himvani. She is deeply rooted in the life in the state and has her interests in communication research. |
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| Our Advisors | |
| Farhad Vania
Farhad is working as a Senior Program Advisor with the GTZ-supported project on Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions in Himachal Pradesh. For the last 20 years he has been involved with the development sector in India. He holds an MSc in Human Ecology from the University of Edinburgh as well as a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), India. He has been professionally associated with academic institutions, NGOs and the private sector and his work experience includes projects related to governance (policy, panchayats & municipal bodies); forestry (people-forests-state interface, forest based livelihood options, policy); wildlife conservation (protected area management, community initiatives, legal & policy issues); land & water (agriculture, irrigation, watershed management, rural water supply); poverty (rural-urban livelihoods, underlying causes and social risk); resettlement & rehabilitation (surveys, planning, monitoring); sustainable development (policy & practice) These projects were commissioned by: central/state government departments in India, national/international NGOs, donor agencies and private sector organisations. He is married and based in Shimla since 2005. |
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| An indicative list of our patrons | |
| Dr Saroj Thakur
Currently working with Department of Applied Science and Humanities, National Institute of Technology ( NIT ) Hamirpur Doctorate in English literature Masters in Hindi literature Masters in Sociology PGDM in Human Resource Management Her other interests include Women Studies, Indian Literature, the Mahabharata studies and Culture of Himachal |
Dr Pankaj Khullar
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Himachal Pradesh) Ex – Managing Director, HP State Forest Corporation Ltd. Ex – Managing Director, HP General Industries Corpn. Ltd. Ex – Managing Director, HPMC. Ex – UNDP Consultant, Papua New Guinea Visiting Faculty – NAAA (Shimla), HIPA (Shimla), NFA (Dehra Dun) |
| Prof Vepa Rao
Former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Head of Journalism and Mass Communication Department, Himachal Pradesh University Senior journalist with deep commitment to the development of the state |
Dr Ila Patel
Faculty and board member, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) |
| Alumni | |
| Vividh
A rebel by nature and a journalist by profession Vividh doubled as editor and web administrator for HimVani. As one of the founding members Vividh ensured that HimVani remained updated and a cut above Vividh took a break from HimVani to pursue his dream. He continues to support the initiative from outside hopes to bring back the natural glory once Himachal enjoyed with abundant snow and lots of green. |
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