Popularly known as the City of Gurudwaras, the small and beautiful district of Sangrur in Punjab is recently witnessing a plethora of new developments and initiatives by the administration. DC Jitendra Jorwal, IAS, along with ADC Varjeet Walia, IAS, is coming up with beneficial projects in the district for the welfare of the people.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Varjeet Walia talked about the Amrit Van campaign and the School on Wheels project that have been taken up successfully by the Sangrur district administration.
AMRIT VAN CAMPAIGN
The forest area in Sangrur is shrinking day by day, which is a matter of great concern. Taking this as a challenge, the district administration launched the Amrit Van campaign, dedicating it to the 75th year of the country’s Independence. Under the campaign, 75 acres of mini jungles will be planted in every rural block, making it a total of 600 acres in the entire district.
The aim is to reintroduce the concept of jungles in the villages. A village jungle should be part of the identity of each village, just like a chhapar (village pond) or phirni (village ring road). As compared to routine plantations, mini jungles will set up a unique biodiversity island within villages. Moreover, the survival rate of plants in such jungles will be above 95% with the help of dedicated ‘Vann Mitras’ who will be deputed for each forest.
“We collaborated with RoundGlass Foundation NGO and the forest department for the afforestation campaign. Our motto is to highlight the greatness of the age-old relationship between tree and man. Forests are the habitat of many animals and birds. This wealth of natural resources is our national capital, thanks to which, all life is possible. Where there is greenery, there is prosperity,” Mr. Walia said.
CREATING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Traditional trees have special importance in Punjab. By planting these traditional trees, one can also plant a forest or shrub in their village. By planting these forests, the administration, under the guidance of Mr. Jorwal, is looking forward to saving Punjab’s trees and endangered bird species.
Under the Amrit Van campaign, forests will be planted in all those villages in all the blocks of Sangrur, in which there is space for afforestation. The plantation and maintenance work will be done under the MGNREGA scheme, through which thousands of people will be able to learn a livelihood.
“The work of planting saplings will be done by the pocket card holders under the MGNREGA scheme. These job card holders will get employment of about 1100 days per acre in a year, which will prove to be beneficial for them,” shared the officer.
SCHOOL ON WHEELS
The Sangrur district administration found that numerous kids from the slum areas were not attending school and staying back home. Even though the government has taken out policies to send every child to school, these kids were just enrolled on paper and never physically attended school. To deal with this issue, the administration came up with ‘School on Wheels’, a project for out-of-school children, named ‘Gyan Kirnan di Choh’ (touching the rays of knowledge).
“We decided to come up with avenues that could attract them so that with time, we could get them enrolled in mainstream education and society,” Mr. Walia told Indian Masterminds.
To do so, the administration deployed a yellow school bus, which does rounds every day, picking up around 25-30 children from the slums, driving them around, and then dropping them back home. A teacher deployed inside the bus imparts basic education to the kids in a fun-activity mode, with two Anganwadi workers, too, deployed to assist and take care of the children on board.
The bus has a seating arrangement for around 30 children and it has been equipped with various interactive tools – like coloring books, toys, and informative charts. The bus also has a mini library inside to help children inculcate a reading habit. To ensure the safety of children, the bus is equipped with a CCTV camera, fire extinguisher, and a first-aid kit.
“The kids are also taken to exciting locations such as beautiful parks, fish farms, picnic spots, driving schools, and other places that could attract them and, at the same time, impart knowledge to them, in one way or another,” he said.
The project has been a massive success, with children becoming more attentive and big growth in attendance rate. Kids from all over are lining up to sit on the bus and learn. The administration will gradually arrange for more buses for this purpose. They are also bringing the kids back to school for their mid-day meals and making them stay in the school for a couple of hours to get them into the habit of coming to school regularly.
