In a bid to make Harela festival more successful, the State women and child development department has decided to do plantation across the State through the aganwadi centres. Each centre would sow 11 plants in the nearby areas with the help of the public representatives.
After the plants are sown, those running such centres would be held accountable in case the newly sown saplings do not grow as expected while those who succeed in the plantation mission would be rewarded. Disclosing this, the minister of state for women and child welfare Rekha Arya said while addressing the media here in the Assembly on Saturday that her ministry is determined to make the festival a different one from those held earlier.
“Plantation on a large scale would be held on July 21. We would do everything to make the festival achieve many firsts which would prove as examples for the festivals that would follow it,” she said.
She further said that each of the 19650 aanganwadi centres based across the state would be tasked to sow 11 plants in the areas under its care. The gram pradhans, block pramukhs and zila panchayat presidents aside from the common people would be involved in the plantation mission, the minister said, adding that the number of plants to be sown in course of the festival would be 216150.
She said that the plants to be sown would be of three varieties- those bearing fruits, those meant as fodder and those which would grow into tall trees. “ The aaganwadi centre members being in charge of the mission would inform their nodal officers through whatsapp and Email harelauk@gmail.com. The state district programme officer and chief child development officer have been made the nodal officers of this year’s Harela festival,” Arya said.
“I myself would visit these centres three months after the festival to physically see how things are running. I would identify those who achieve success and those who fail in their mandated mission. While those who would fail would face action those who would perform would be rewarded. Besides, to make this festival memorable, we would rope in celebrities at the national as well as the state levels,” Arya said.