Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will award Nadia district for implementing the best innovative scheme under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (MGNREGA) at the Rajya Panchayat Sammelan scheduled to be held at Netaji Indoor Stadium on February 3.
Cooch Behar district will receive award for overall best performance in programme implementation in 2015-16 and Hooghly district for consistently good performance in administrative parameter. The respective District Magistrates of the districts will receive the prizes.
The day-long meeting which will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister is of immense importance in view of the Panchayat election scheduled to be held in 2018. Also, the function of the panchayats in every district will be reviewed. Senior officials of the Panchayat and Rural Development department, Sabhadhipatis and office bearers of different panchayats will attend the meeting.
Nadia district has chalked out a unique plan to plant Vetiver grass to check soil erosion along riverside. There are six rivers flowing through the district. They are Bhagirathi, Churni, Mathabhanga, Ichamati, Jalangi and Padma. The total area where Vetiver grass will be planted will be around 743.92 km. Of this, by March, Vetiver grass will be planted on land covering 500 km.
Vetiver grass which grows in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala is being planted to check soil erosion along the riverside. The root of the grass grows 15 feet to 20 feet below ground and creates a net below and thus checks soil erosion effectively. The Vetiver cultivation along riversides gives the entire areas a pleasant and green look.
Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the project and named it Sabujayan at a function held in Nadia in November, 2015. As Vetiver does not grow in Bengal, it was brought from Tamil Nadu. Between December 2015 and April 2016, around 12 lakh Vetiver slips were brought from Tamil Nadu. But as it became very expensive, the Panchayat and Rural development department set up 76 nurseries to grow the grass. Its success became palpable. Experts from across the globe have visited the nurseries and also visited the site.
P Vincent, known as the Vetiver man of South, the most renowned expert in the country visited the nurseries in Nadia more than once and expressed his satisfaction. Professor Dibyendu Sarkar and Professor Rurali Basu from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey and Michigan Technology University visited the site in 2016.
Taking cue from the success of Vetiver cultivation in Nadia, East Midnapore district administration has decided to plant the grass along riverside and seaside. Recently, a meeting was held where Babulal Mahato, Vetiver expert gave training to the Vetiver grass growers.