Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday launched the 'Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana' from Hamirpur and termed it as a significant step towards environmental conservation and community participation in forest management.
He said that the scheme not only aims to increase the green cover by planting fruit-bearing trees on barren and degraded forest areas but will also generate employment and income for local communities by ensuring participation of mahila and yuvak mandals, besides self-help groups.
Sukhu handed over certificates in this respect to two Mahila Mandals from Nadaun, viz: 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.
The Chief Minister also launched the 'Green Adoption Scheme'. In the initial phase, Ambuja Company would undertake plantation work on 25 hectares, while the Adani Foundation and UltraTech would adopt 10 hectares each. He handed over certificates to these organisations as a mark of official recognition. The scheme 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. This initiative not only contributes to environmental protection but also provides companies with an opportunity to fulfil their corporate social responsibility, said the Chief Minister.
During the event, he 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 assured them that the government was committed to framing future policies that safeguard their careers and recognise them as true guardians of the forests. He said that the state government was focusing on women empowerment and the reservation for women in police recruitment has been increased to 30 percent and in Lahaul-Spiti, all key administrative officers, including the Deputy Commissioner, were women with decision-making authority.
He said that the Van Mitra Yojana was one of the department’s most successful endeavours. The scheme 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. He emphasised the need to prevent illegal logging, remain vigilant against forest fires and contribute actively to plantation drives and forest development initiatives by fostering public participation.