Addressing the gathering at 72nd ‘Van Mahotsav’ through video conferencing, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday appealed people to take a ‘Green Pledge’ of planting at least one tree during their lifetime. "This year we have set a target of planting 3 crore saplings. I would urge each one of you to become a part of the state government’s plantation campaign to ensure the betterment of Mother Earth’s health," he said.
Considering the importance of tree plantation CM also launched a citizen- centric mobile app named 'e-Paudhshala' for free distribution of saplings from government nurseries.
Khattar said, “All saplings to be distributed to the panchayats under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister. The saplings to be distributed through this mobile application under our Paudhgiri Yojana. All citizens and government offices can get saplings from the nursery of the forest department by placing their demand through this app. The mobile application is available on both Android and iPhone platforms".
He said, through this application anyone can check the availability of plants of their choice in the nearest nursery and the app also has a navigation facility to reach the nursery. People can click pictures of plantations and share them with the Haryana forest department through this app. Through this app, the important role and contribution of citizens in making the state green will be acknowledged and recorded.
To Geo Tag Plants- App to be launched soon
Furthermore, Haryana CM announced that an application for the geo-tagging of the plants planted by people of the state would be launched very soon. This new mobile app would assist the forest department in taking pictures of the planted trees every 6 months to make sure their health & safety.
Students would get additional marks
Giving the example of Philippines, where it is compulsory for every student to plant trees in order to receive their graduation degree, he highlighted that to motivate students to plant more trees in Haryana too is through granting at least 10 extra marks to 12th class students in their final assessment. This provision is being explored by the Education Department so as to encourage students for planting more and more trees.
Under the Paudhgiri Abhiyan, an amount of Rs 50 is given as an incentive every 6 months to the children studying from class 6 to 12 who take care of their planted plant for 3 years.
Source: The Indian Express
