The Students of Delhi University will now be given practical lessons on gardening and tree plantation as the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning to reach out to them through its school of gardening.
According to the officials in the civic agency, the horticulture department has received several letters from students of the university seeking classes for gardening. “We have got a number of requests from professors and students of DU for imparting lessons in gardening. The students of South Campus, especially, seem to be highly enthusiastic about it as most of the letters are from there,” said HK Pachauri, Director Horticulture, NDMC.
In a response to these requests, to kick start the process, the civic body is sending a letter to DU’s Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh. “We are sending a letter to the VC on July 16. It is a proposal in which students from varied courses in DU can apply and get hands-on training in cultivation, sowing and planting. All this will be free of cost,” informed Pachauri.
Notably, the civic body is also training gardeners of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in its school located at Purana Quila Road. According to the officials, 70 per cent of the payment for training the gardeners of SDMC has been made by the South Corporation. The fee includes the cost of reading materials, transportation for practical training, infrastructural facilities as well as refreshments.
Although the number of SDMC employees who will be trained in the school has substantially reduced from 1,800 to 800, the course is scheduled to begin by July end. In May, the SDMC had approached the horticulture department of the civic body to train its gardeners in its school. Furthermore, officials added that the East and North Delhi Municipal Corporations along with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) have also made similar requests.
The 100-hour course will be completed within a month. The training, which until now was undertaken periodically, will teach gardeners different aspects of gardening like watering, creating terrace gardens, pest control, maintenance of machinery, tree plantation and preservation, and honing expertise in seasonal flowers to its people.
Meanwhile, the Education department of NDMC urged the schools to send their children to learn basics of gardening like sowing of seeds, taking care of saplings, cutting and budding. “Children who come during our summer camp can be sent to this school for learning gardening skills. By this, they will be more sensitive towards nature and care for it. But, this plan is yet to be finalised,” said an official in the Education department.