A Study in Green: Bihar training center offers free courses for the poor in exchange for saplings

Education in exchange for saplings.

Wednesday, 4th August 2021

A training institution in Bihar requires students to plant 18 saplings as an entrance fee to help provide free education to poor students while protecting the environment. The training organization’s green initiative for students to prepare for exams has not only benefited more than 5,000 students from poor families but also increased the green coverage of the area.

The institute was established in the Rosera neighborhood of Samastipur district in 2008 and has helped plant 110,000 saplings since then young trees, mainly fruit species, are planted in northern Bihar, such as Samastipur, Begusarai, Darbhanga, and Khagaria.

What is the reason for planting 18 saplings specifically?

Rajesh Kumar Suman, the environmental and climate change activist who conceived this idea, said: "A person can inhale as much oxygen in his life as the oxygen produced by these 18 plants."

"If people don't work hard to protect the environment, how will they survive? It is our collective responsibility to promote greening and protect the environment," he added.

Facts have shown that this idea is a boon for poor students who cannot afford to attend famous training courses in Patna and other cities. Suman shared that about 500 college students passed the competitive exam and got government jobs.

"Plants helped me find a job in the income tax department in Mumbai. If it weren't for this institute, I would sell roadside spices like my father to survive," said Raushan Kumar.

The severe financial crisis destroyed all Kumar's hopes for a better life until the training center gave him a new life, Kumar added.

Another student, Amarjeet Das, is also grateful to the college. "They asked me to take selfies with the saplings I planted. When I got to 18 factories, they considered me for admission, "said Das, who is now an employee of Group D of the Indian Railways. His father is a paid day laborer. He added that 4,444 students were required to work in any of the areas in the area. Local planting of saplings, either on their own farmland or on government land where there is no land.

University teachers are employed elsewhere to provide free services to help the poor, he said They add up. They have classes in the morning and afternoon, two hours.

The main purpose of collecting plants as an entrance fee is to allow younger generations to understand the importance of environmental protection, he added.

On Sunday, when the institute was closed, Suman visited various places in the state to promote the importance of tree planting among the villagers.

The News Talkie Bureau

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