Mumbai: In order to increase the green cover in Maharashtra, the state forest department has decided to provide ten saplings to a farmer families that have been blessed with a girl child.
The government has identified three lakh such families, and the saplings will be provided to them from this monsoon onwards.
Speaking with The Asian Age, Vikas Kharage, forest secretary, said that five teak saplings would be provided and the remaining five would be fruit saplings.
This exercise will not only help farmers financially — as the teak wood could be sold to support the cost of the girl’s education and marriage — but also increase the green cover in the state.
Officials said that 20 lakh children are born in Maharashtra every year. Around 2.5 to 3 lakh farmers who have been blessed with daughters have been identified with the help of the public health and family welfare department.
“The decision to provide ten saplings to families with a girl child will also help to improve the female ratio in the state,” he said.
Thirty lakh saplings will be given to the farmers’ families. In addition to this, the government has set a target to plant a whopping 33 crore saplings in the year 2019 alone.
Out of the ten saplings, two mango and one tamarind, jamun and jackfruit trees will be given to farmer families, free of cost. The saplings will be planted between July 1 and July 7 next year.
