Central team starts visiting different development projects run under central government schemes
The team arrived in the district last night, and today morning started visiting different areas under the Gangarampur sub-division
As the South Dinajpur district administration observed 2 June as the ‘Karmajog Dibas’ in 64 Gram Panchayat areas, administrative officials planted tee saplings in the rural areas and distributed the ‘Brikka Patta’ of the newly planted saplings to villagers for the upkeep of the trees.
Through this afforestation scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaranty Act, the district administration will generate man days and increase the rate of tree plantation in rural areas, officials said.
“The South Dinajpur district administration has decided to plant more trees in the rural areas through MGNREGA projects. The target is 8 to 10 lakh saplings during the 2018-19 fiscal,” a district official said.
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It is learnt that 154 nurseries are actively working in the district to supply the sapling for the project.
A total of 32570 saplings were planted in 64 Gram Panchayat areas, while in doing so, the administration created 48500 man days. One magistrate- level officer was present to observe the tree plantation process in every Gram Panchayat.
Additional District Magistrate (General), Krittibas Nayak, who was present in the Harsura panchayat area in Tapan, said: “It has often been seen that the sapling that are planted do not survive due to lack of nourishment and proper upkeep. As such, we have decided to give the responsibility to raise the saplings to villagers or self help groups through the Brikkha Patta scheme for three years.”
According to him, this will give the villagers a sense of ownership and that they will take proper care of the saplings.
“For this nourishment work, the MGNREGA will pay Rs 10 per month for every sapling. However, 90% of the total planted saplings must be in proper condition. The beneficiary will get 75% of the total cost of the tree after it matures,” the ADM said.
District Magistrate of South Dinajpur, Dipap Priya P, said the sapling plantation drive will go on during the rainy season. “We will plant the saplings under the MGNREGA scheme, while we plan to plant 8 to 10 lakh saplings in the next three to four months. One of our aims is to create more and more man days,” she said.
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