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

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

Jodhpur, 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. Buried in plantation targets, school teachers in Rajasthan say govt ordered drive 'impractical'
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.
"Plantation is the need of our time, but such a daunting target and pressure to achieve it does not make any sense and affects the routine work," she said, adding that most schools do not have a place for plantation at all.
This affects routine school work and affects admissions, given that it is harder to convince parents to send their children to school.
Besides, the schools have to upload the entire activity, from digging to planting the sapling, on an app provided to the teachers, according to the order.
Teachers are also concerned about finding a spot to dig a pit, arranging the plants, and then ensuring that the plants survive, all without dedicated financial provision.
The availability of plants in such large numbers in government nurseries is also an area of concern.
A teacher from a senior secondary school in the city also questioned the order's "practicality", and asked where schools in urban areas will find enough places for such a plantation drive.
Media in-charge of Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh , Kalu Ram, asked whether the teachers are supposed to run the school and teach or be seen running around digging pits and planting trees.
"Many important aspects have been overlooked in this drive, and in the absence of judicious planning, this entire exercise will miserably fall short of purpose," he added.
He further expressed concern that school staff will struggle to convince parents, many of whom are already disinterested in sending their children to government schools.
Environmentalist and plantation crusader Ram Niwas Budhnagar attributed the order to an attempt at self-praise and said the order was a "mockery" of environmental concern and "exploitation" of teachers. Environmentalist and plantation crusader Ram Niwas Budhnagar attributed the order to an attempt at self-praise.
"This order is absolutely impractical and arbitrary, which would derail the school's routine function at this time," he said.
Budhnagar said the government could instead have chosen those who were already engaged in plantation work, given their expertise and access to resources.
Under the central government's Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign, people plant trees in the name of their mothers — a symbolic gesture to honour their role in nurturing life while addressing the need for environmental preservation.
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