Students taking admissions to any undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 25 State-run universities and 412 government colleges will be trained in more than just their course. They will be made to develop a green thumb.
Students will have to plant a sapling and nurture it through their three or five-year course, at the end of which a picture of the plant will be printed on their graduation certificate, turning them into certified ‘green graduates’.
Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, a day after the Karnataka State Higher Education Council cleared the proposal, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi said universities and government colleges were asked to pick a date of their choice to undertake the planting activity. He added that the move would ensure that nearly 20 lakh students plant saplings on their college/university campuses, or on adjacent highways.
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According to the agenda note, the one-student-one-tree concept is part of the Sustainable Development Goal by World Health organisation and was reportedly discussed at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health at Boston in March 2015.
The initiative was first taken up by the Sri Siddhartha University, where medical students pledged to take care of saplings they had planted about two years ago. The next ‘green graduation’ for the university is scheduled in October.
Welcoming the initiative, Gangadhar Reddy N., convenor of Usirigaagi Hasiru, a student driven organisation that has planted 3,000 saplings, said though a positive development that would spark environmental consciousness among students, there was a need to ensure that the logistics of the programme are addressed before the programme begins.
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