TURA:
The non-governmental organisation Bakdil launched the Integrated Tribal Development Programme – ITDP-V as part of the celebration of World Environment Day at Daji Badima playground under Chokpot C&RD Block in South Garo Hills on Monday.
The general manager of NABARD Regional office Shillong, Dr Prabhudatta Sahoo was the chief guest. Khelchandra Chongtham, District Development Manager, NABARD South Garo Hills, resource person Rike Chelchak A Sangma, Subject Matter Specialist (Agronomy), KVK Chokpot SGH, Fr. Sunny Joseph Mavelil, Director of BAKDIL, and beneficiaries from 15 villages were present in the programme.
The project supports 200 beneficiaries from 15 far flung villages with horticulture-based food crop plantation. Each of the 200 households have been provided with 30 saplings of Assam Tall variety of coconut and 50 Budded Khasi Mandarin variety saplings of oranges as base crops. The project will also provide 1000 suckers of Queen pineapple as intercrop and 100 cuttings of drumsticks tree as a border crop.
Including the newly launched project, the BAKDIL organization is currently implementing such programmes in four different blocks, namely, ITDP-II in Kharkutta, ITDP-III in Samanda, ITDP-IV in Rongram Block besides ITDP-V in Chokpot .
ITDP-I, the first project under Tribal Development Fund, was successfully implemented in Zikzak block, where the beneficiaries received provisions for mango and litchi plantations.
General Manager of NABARD Prabhudatta Sahoo said that the heavy downpour is indeed a blessing and we should celebrate and embrace it with joyous hearts. “Despite the heavy downpour the people came forward to celebrate the occasion with good spirits, I salute these good spirits,” he added.
He urged the beneficiaries to keep up the same spirit throughout the project period of 6 years in order to make it successful and fruitful. “It is not the NABARD nor the BAKDIL nor the Horticulture department or KVK who gets the benefits of this project, it is you. You have to take up ownership of your plantations. That will determine the outcome of the project,” he said while addressing the gathering. “NABARD is an agriculture bank and Bakdil is an organisation, but the project is you,” he added. He also said that he is confident with the capability of Bakdil and urged the people to follow the guidelines given by the organisation for making the project successful.
KhelchandraChongtham, District Development Manager, NABARD, South Garo Hills, said that every beneficiary should care for each plantation as if the provided coconut and oranges are their own family members. He motivated the people to water the plantation regularly and make every plant grow.
In an interaction with the beneficiaries, Fr Sunny Mavelil, Director of Bakdil, strongly encouraged them to take up such activities saying that the plantation of areca nuts and rubber trees will bring money but the environment for the future generation will disappear. “If you don’t react now, our children and grandchildren will have to buy water for drinking,” he said. “What is good about having money and not having clean and safe drinking water?” he asked the gathering. He mentioned that in order to preserve the present streams and rivers we have to slowly move towards food crop cultivation and away from cash crops.
To mark the World Environment Day celebration, the General manager of NABARD and other esteemed guests planted orange saplings.
