Madhya Pradesh: Vidya Van will be developed in all colleges of state

Bhopal: On the guidance of Higher Education, Technical Education and AYUSH Minister Inder Singh Parmar, the Higher Education Department has taken an innovative initiative in the form of "Vidyaavan" scheme to increase awareness towards environmental protection among college students and to generate positive feelings towards health in them. The Higher Education Department has issued instructions regarding developing "Vidyaavan" in all government, non-government and grant-in-aid colleges of the state and planting trees in it. 

Colleges will select suitable land

According to this, all the colleges will have to select suitable land for "Vidyaavan" in the institution campus, in case of non-availability of land in the college, coordination with the local administration will have to be done to ensure availability of land near the institution campus. 

A committee will be formed comprising the college's NCC, NSS in-charge, sports officer, senior professor, forest department representative, local NGO representative, local bank representative, social service organization representative and students, which will work to develop the "Vidya Van" and execute the tree plantation scheme. 

Colleges to coordinate with forest dept

Instructions have been given to coordinate with the forest department to make arrangements for fencing of the marked/allocated land for development and for the provision of "tree guards" for the protection of the plants. 

To ensure the important role of the students of the colleges in tree plantation, they have also been asked to encourage them to plant, maintain and monitor trees on days of their personal importance such as their birthdays etc. To ensure the responsibility of the growth and maintenance of trees, instructions have also been given to form a committee of the students of the institution along with N.S.S. and N.C.C.

Priority to trees like Neem, Peepal, Karanja, Maulshri, Gular, Mahua etc.

In coordination with the forest department, tree plantation plan has been given to develop the "Vidya Van" and priority has been given to the trees to be planted such as Neem, Peepal, Karanja, Maulshri, Gular, Tamarind, Mahua etc. Apart from these, more trees naturally suitable to the local climate, soil and ecological conditions have been given. Instructions have also been given to plant native species that emit oxygen and bear fruits. This action plan will be reviewed from time to time by all regional additional directors.