Initiator of the Beej Bachao Andolan in Uttarakhand, Vijay Jadadhari and environmentalist lecturer Mahavir Singh Mehta ‘Ecoman’ will be felicitated with Maiti Samman this year. Environmentalist and initiator of the Maiti Movement, Kalyan Singh Rawat said that Jadadhari and Mehta were chosen for the honour this year in view of their major contribution to traditional agricultural and environmental development. The awards will be presented at a function to be held in the Town Hall on Sunday.
Addressing the media here on Friday, Rawat recalled that the Maiti Movement was born in 1995 at Gwaldam in Uttarakhand. As part of this movement, whenever a daughter is married, she and her husband plant a sapling in the bride’s village with the bride’s mother taking the responsibility of protecting the tree planted. Since its launch, the concept of the Maiti Movement has become known in more than 18 Indian States and abroad. Tree saplings have been planted thus under the movement in more than 2.5 lakh marriage functions. “There are many persons who have done commendable works for the protection of environment and culture while remaining unacknowledged. The Maiti Samman was instituted in 1998 to honour such personalities,” he said.
Speaking about the efforts of Beej Bachao Andolan leader Vijay Jadadhari, the Sarvoday Mandal district head Biju Negi said that at a time when use of hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides was being encouraged in the mountainous region, Jadadhari started the Beej
Bachao Andolan to preserve traditional seeds and traditional farming practices. Similarly, Mahaveer Singh Mehta has so far facilitated distribution of more than 50,000 tree saplings.