Brij Lal Bhat

Brij Lal Bhat spent his career helping Kashmir’s apple and walnut growers sell their fruit, and his retirement running an ashram in Anantnag district. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of social work, from Jammu and Kashmir ^[1].

Fruit and markets

Bhat was born in Anantnag on 16 March 1945 ^[2]. He came first in his class in a postgraduate degree in horticulture and later took a course in marketing and refrigeration at Washington State University in the United States ^[2].

In government service he was a project director for agri-export zones, ran World Bank-aided projects, and served as the state’s director of horticulture planning and marketing ^[2]. According to his citation, he helped bring in cardboard packaging and cold-chain storage for fruit, set up fruit and vegetable markets, and get Jammu and Kashmir declared an agri-export zone for apples and walnuts ^[2]. He also led a horticulture survey of Ladakh and a state delegation to SAARC countries to promote fruit exports ^[2].

The Nagdandi ashram

He now chairs the administrative committee of the Shri Ramakrishna Mahasammelan Ashram – Vivekananda Kendra at Nagdandi in Anantnag ^[2]. The ashram runs yoga, study and youth activities across Kashmir and holds meetings between people of different faiths, and it works to reconnect displaced Kashmiri Hindus with their roots ^[2].

Bhat has planted high-density apple and walnut orchards on the ashram’s poor land to show farmers what modern methods can do, and to help the ashram pay its own way ^[2]. He has also expanded its housing from room for 12 people to about 150 ^[2].