Tree plantation targets raise concerns in schools

Buried in plantation - targets, school teachers in Rajasthan say govt ordered drive 'impractical'

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Schools in Rajasthan face an unlikely challenge at the beginning of the new session: teachers and students are both tasked with ensuring that they meet daily and ultimately monthly targets of an aggressive government-ordered plantation drive.

Under the Hariyalo Rajasthan - Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam Mission, the state's education minister, Madan Dilawar, has directed the planting of 25 crore saplings between July 10 and August 10.

According to the order, every student up to upper primary classes has to plant 10 saplings per day, while students in the primary level have a target of 15 plants per day, and teachers have to plant 15 saplings per day.

"Does it sound practical by any means?" asked a principal of a senior secondary school in Jodhpur's suburban area.