Branding of Chhattisgarh as a Green State to be ensured
Chief Minister emphasized on making Chhattisgarh’s economy green strong and sustainable
Chhattisgarh is the first state in the country to constitute Green Council
First meeting of Chhattisgarh Green Council held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister
Re-generative development is a more progressive concept, said Chief Minister
Market linkage of organic products, capacity building of self-help groups, promotion of economic oriented activities with participation of localites and other topics discussed in the meeting
Raipur, 3 January 2022 / First meeting of Chhattisgarh Green Council was held today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel at his residence. Chhattisgarh Green Council has been constituted with the objective to give impetus to the regenerative development in the state. This council will work towards making Chhattisgarh’s economy green, strong and sustainable. Regenerative Development is a more progressive concept than Sustainable Development. The concept of Regenerative Deveopment includes optimal utilization of availabe resources, quality enhancement of the resources, and boosting income of localites through livelihood activities under New Age Green Economy. At the meeting, Chief Minister emphasized on the branding of Chhattisgarh as a Green State on national and international platforms, market linkage of organic products, capacity building of self-help groups through training, development of districts as per their specific requirements and ensuring participation of local residents in the income-oriented activities. He added that Chhattisgarh is the first state of the country where Green Council has been constituted.
In the meeting, vision and mission of the Green Council to address the environmental issues were finalized. This initiative of Chhattisgarh Government will include capacity building of women self-help groups to market the sustainable forest, medicinal, herbal and other products. Specialist companies will be invited to Chhattisgarh, and a carbon credit program will be launched soon in the state.
In his address to the meeting, Chief Minister said that in last three years, Chhattisgarh Government has launched many eco-friendly schemes to strengthen the rural economy, such as Narva, Garua, Ghurva, Bari Yojana, Godhan Nyay Yojna under Suraji Gaon Yojna, production of vermi compost from cow dung in Gauthans, encouraging the use of the left over hay as fodder for cattle after harvesting, expansion of forest areas under Chief Minister’s Tree Plantation Promotion Scheme, boosting the income of local forest dwellers through minor forest produce procurement and value addition, which are promoting the cause of environmental protection and economic empowerment. These schemes are being appreciated across the country and abroad.
While discussing the topic of carbon emissions in the meeting, Chief Minister said that in Chhattisgarh, we are moving towards organic farming with the use of vermi compost and we have significantly reduced the carbon emissions (pollution) by not burning stubble and using it as fodder. He added that Chhattisgarh is on its way to become the second organic state after Sikkim. Mr. Baghel said in the meeting that services of specialist companies in Chhattisgarh should be taken for marketing the products being prepared by self-help groups and also for promoting tourism in the state. He also talked about the capacity building of self-help groups underway in the state. In the context, Chief Minister said that with the help of self-help groups, solar panels and herbs can be used to prepare forest medicines. He praised the self-help groups of Korba for their commendable work in the field of forest medicines. There is a good market for herbal medicines internationally. Chief Minister said that a nodal officer should be appointed in every district to promote regenerative development. After identifying the specialties of the districts, development works should be done there with the help of experts. He also directed to make efforts towards branding of Chhattisgarh as an organic state. Chhattisgarh will be the first state to take such a progressive step towards the economic empowerment of the local people besides addressing the challenges of climate change.
The meeting was attended by Forest Minister Shri Mohammad Akbar, Agriculture Minister Mr. Ravindra Choubey, Urban Administration and Development Minister Dr. Shiv Kumar Dahria, Advisor to Chief Minister Mr. Pradeep Sharma, Chief Secretary Mr. Amitabh Jain, Additional Chief Secretary Mr. Subrat Sahu, Principal Secretary Forest and Industries Mr. Manoj Pingua, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Mr. Rakesh Chaturvedi, Agriculture Production Commissioner Dr. Kamalpreet Singh, Managing Director State Minor Forest Produce Association Mr. Sanjay Shukla, Secretary Forest Mr. Premkumar, members of Swaniti Initiative team and concerned officers.
