Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Sunday said in order to integrate the youth of the country in the Prime Minister’s Ten Billion Tree Tsunami plantation project, a special legislation allowing 20 additional marks on planting 29 trees during their studies was underway.
The Minister of State in her exclusive interview told APP that in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s clean and green Pakistan vision a unique and innovative effort was conceived to bound university graduates to plant 20 trees during their course study.
Zartaj said the legislation would make 20 saplings compulsory for a university graduate where the university and district administration would help them locate feasible sites for plantation.
Under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan for a clean and green Pakistan, full participation of the youth in the movement to plant more trees in the country would be encouraged through this legislation, she added.
The Minister of State said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to make the future of coming generations safe and sustainable through nature conservation.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan, to this end, not only presented the idea of a clean, green and prosperous Pakistan rather also put it into practice. He has introduced a number of revolutionary initiatives for environmental preservation,” Zartaj said.
She added that for the success of the Clean and Green Pakistan movement, the active participation of all sections of the society was being ensured.
She said that along with other measures taken by the Ministry of Climate Change to promote the natural environment, it also intended to introduce a bill to ensure full participation of the youth in the green movement, according to which young students would be proposed to give honorary numbers in return for planting trees.
Explaining the proposed scheme, the Minister of State said that extra marks were given to the students involved in National Cadet Corps (NCC); additional marks would also be given to the students for planting trees as part of educational activities.
“Programmes like ‘20 Plants 20 Numbers’ will not only encourage the youth to be a part of this national goal but will also fulfill the dream of making Pakistan a green and prosperous country,” she said.
To a question, she said for this purpose, the concerned colleges, universities or district administrations would determine the place of planting trees where students would be able to plant trees as per the regular schedule.
Zartaj Gul said under this scheme, millions of saplings could be planted every year which would prove to be a valuable asset for the future of the country and future generations.
