As many as 135 government schools in Vellore have raised over 2.6 lakh saplings through Isha Foundation’s Green School Movement (GSM). An event to mark the beginning of transplanting these saplings was held at the Voorhees College on Tuesday.
The event was inaugurated by the Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, K.C. Veeramani, who planted a sapling on the college campus. District Collector A. Shanmuga Sundaram, Chief Education Officer S. Mars and Director of Pharmcel India, Manoharan, also participated in the event.
Addressing the students, Mr. Veeramani said, “Oxygen from trees is a necessity for a human being’s survival. I appreciate the Green School Movement’s efforts to inculcate the habit of planting tree saplings in the student community. I would also like to appreciate the progressive steps taken by Sadhguru in leading many such social outreach activities.” This movement, in collaboration with Tamil Nadu School Education department, was started in Vellore in the year 2018, said Mr. Mars, and added that last year, more than 3 lakh saplings were prepared and distributed by students.
‘Started in 2011’
Isha Green School Movement’s coordinator Swami Rabhya said, “The movement was started in the year 2011 in eight districts: Erode, Coimbatore, Krishnagiri, Trichy, Puducherry, Salem, Villupuram and Kancheepuram. Till date, we have trained around 52,000 students from 2,880 schools, who have planted 46 lakh saplings. We have been active in Vellore since June 2018. 165 schools were trained in the academic year 2018-19. The students planted 3.11 lakh saplings. This year, we trained 135 government schools and the students will plant 2.6 lakh saplings.”
An environment-themed drawing competition was held and the winning students from the Muslim Government School were felicitated.
