Himachal CM launches Van Samvardhan Yojana to increase green cover

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday launched the 'Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana' here and termed it as a significant step towards environmental conservation and community-driven forest management.

Sukhu also launched the green adoption scheme which envisages encouraging private enterprises, corporate houses and non-governmental organisations as a part of their social responsibility to adopt barren forest land and undertake afforestation work.

The chief minister said that the 'Van Samvardhan Yojana' aims to increase the green cover by planting fruit-bearing trees on barren and degraded forest areas. It will also generate employment and income for local communities by ensuring participation of women besides self-help groups, a statement issued here said.

Sukhu also handed over certificates to two 'Mahila Mandals' from Nadaun namely Amlehad and Bhawdan, which will carry out the plantation activities on two hectares of forest land and ensure its maintenance for a period of five years.

He also launched the green adoption scheme and said this initiative will not only contribute to environmental protection but also provide companies with an opportunity to fulfil their corporate social responsibility.

In the initial phase, Ambuja company would undertake plantation work on 25 hectares, while the Adani Foundation and UltraTech would adopt 10 hectares each, the statement said. The chief minister handed over certificates to these organisations as a mark of official recognition.

Sukhu also inspected the passing-out parade of the newly appointed 'van mitras' and interacted with them. He said that the forest department had been facing a shortage of field staff, which posed challenges to forest protection.

To address this, appointments of 'van mitras' have been made based on merit, with many young women taking the lead in securing these roles, he added. The state government is focusing on women empowerment and the reservation for women in police recruitment has been increased to 30 per cent and in Lahaul-Spiti, teh CM said. He said that the state's forest wealth plays a vital role in environmental conservation and significantly contributes to the economy and tourism.

Sukhu said that the 'Van Mitra Yojana' aims to create employment for youth and deliver forest department benefits to the grassroots level besides promoting public awareness about forest conservation. He urged van mitras not to limit their role to forest protection alone but also to engage with rural communities to spread awareness about the importance of forests.

On the occasion, the CM also announced the opening of three new wellness centres under the Municipal Corporation of Hamirpur. He also released a souvenir titled 'Samvaad' dedicated to van mitras and launched a book titled 'The Mountainous Wilderness of Spiti'. A new mobile application was also launched to facilitate attendance tracking of van mitras.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)