THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nemom block panchayat is set to emerge as a model in implementation of Haritha Keralam programme as it has taken up the mission of planting fruit-bearing trees in the seven grama panchayats which comes under it.
According to block panchayat president L Sakunthala Kumari, besides handing over the saplings of fruit-bearing trees to government and private institutions, there is also a plan to plant the saplings in roadsides and barren lands.
“In the previous financial year, we were able to produce 3,35,250 saplings from the 173 nurseries. To make this initiative a success, we had the able support of the seven grama panchayats that come under us,” said Sakunthala Kumari.
While saying that about 1,38,826 saplings produced during the previous financial year were distributed among schools, Anganwadis and various residents during the Environment Day, the block panchayath president added there is a plan to include the upkeep of the remaining saplings under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) programme.
“The plan is such that we will entrust the upkeep of some 1,96,426 saplings under the MGNREG programme. With this it will be ensured that the saplings will be protected for at least three to five years,” adds Sakunthala Kumari.
At the same time, it is said that the upkeep of the saplings will be entrusted with vulnerable groups under MGNRG Act. It has also been decided to handover the revenue generated from these fruit-bearing trees to the workers coming under the vulnerable group.
Earlier, the Agriculture Department had come out with a project to make the Nemom assembly constituency self-sufficient in paddy and vegetable cultivation.