New Delhi: The executive council of National Mission for a Green India today approved perspective plans and annual plan of operations of eight states for carrying out activities under the mission, which aims afforestation at 10 million hectares of land over the next decade.
In the first meeting of GIM's National Executive Council chaired by Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashok Lavasa, the nodal officers and representatives from eight states presented their perspective plans (PP) which are to be implemented between six to eight years and APOs for 2015-16.
National Mission for a Green India (GIM) is one of the eight missions under National Action Plan on Climate Change with emphasis on better coordination in developing forests and their fringe areas in a holistic and sustainable manner.
The meeting approved the PP of six states, namely Punjab, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with a total financial outlay of Rs. 2,709.56 crore and time period of six to ten years along with APO of Rs. 254.22 crore
It also aims to optimise efficient use of resources and avoid activities which can disturb the balance in ecosystem due to lack of coordination between different schemes.
On the request of the states, it was also decided that the activities exclusively being undertaken under GIM will be funded as per the wage rates in the respective regions, while the activities falling under the purview of MGNREGA will be as per the scheme's wage rates.
The government had merged GIM with MGNREGA to increase and improve the country's forest cover.
The meeting also emphasised the usage of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System tools to monitor the success of GIM activities.
