CHANDIGARH, Punjab—In commemoration of the 550th Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the Captain government had launched a campaign to plant 7.2 million plants in about 12858 villages of Punjab, under which 550 plants were to be planted on the shores of ponds, canals and roads and empty places in each village. For this purpose, MGNREGA workers were to be hired in every village to plant the saplings of trees.
The plants were planted according to the policy of the department but according to a letter dated June 19, 2019 by Commissioner of MGNREGA, three forest friendly persons were to be appointed in each village. In many places, only one forest friendly person is working instead of three. These forest friendly persons were to be paid INR 2000/- per month to look after the plants, but as the forest friendly persons were not in full numbers, the plants in the open fields have either dried out or eaten by stray cattle.
On the other hand, when the department supplied these plants to the villages, the village heads in many villages complained to the department that the plants were so weak that it was very difficult to grow them.
Despite resistance by the village heads, the department supplied the plants only according to their own wish.
Due to this, in most villages only 10 to 20 percent of the plants are safe. The main reason for the destruction of these plants is the reduction of bamboo tree guard.
