State government announces naming saplings after every newborn girl child

The State Forest Department will distribute the saplings to the families after the birth of every girl child. The Forest department has already gone ahead with the new scheme and talked to 

the chief medical officers of health in the districts for the smooth implementation of the project.

The project which is the brainchild of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not only aims to spread awareness among the people about the importance of planting trees but also encourages the families of the girl child to nurture the trees with the same importance as they bring up their daughters. One of the objectives of the project is to augment the rate of the institutional deliveries in the state by making them aware about the importance of trees.

State Forest Minister Binay Krishna Barman said that the his department is taking data from the senior districts health officials to know how many children are born in a particular hospital in a month, on the basis of which the saplings would be dispatched to the hospitals. They would be given to the family of a new born girl child during their release from the hospitals.

The baby’s parents would be urged to name the sapling on the name of the newly born girl. Initially, the saplings would be distributed to girl child but later they would also be given to the mothers of a boy child as well, Barman said.

The project will give a huge boost to the forestation as around 15 lakh families across the state would get a sapling under this project. According to a senior official of the state Forest department, as per the available data, nearly 15 lakh girl children are born in the state in a year.

If a family gets a sapling from the forest department and nurtures it after naming it by the name of their baby, around 15 lakh saplings could be planted throughout the state every year.

The minister said that many costly saplings will be distributed to the people. The family members will also grow some emotional attachment with the trees as they would be named after their daughter. The saplings may also be distributed to the families based on their choice on the basis of the land available at their premises.

“We have taken a massive drive to implement the project under ‘Sabujshree’, a dream project of the Chief Minister. The programme has already been initiated in the hospitals. An awareness campaign has also been undertaken by the forest department officials at the block level. Our department is keeping in constant touch with the senior health officials in the districts,” Barman maintained.