Haryana government gives pensions to old people who are unable to sustain themselves with their own sources and are in need of financial assistance. In this series moving one step ahead, the Haryana government has decided to give pensions to the old trees over the age of 75 years under the Pran Vayu Devta Scheme on the lines of old age pension scheme being provided to old people. This scheme was initiated on completion of 9 years of Haryana Government recently. Under this unique scheme, from now on trees above 75 years of age will be given pension by the government. This announcement was made by CM Manohar Lal on June 5, 2021, which has now been implemented. Based on the notification issued in the month of May, now trees above 75 years of age will be given a pension of Rs 2500. Haryana has become the first state in the country to implement a pension scheme for trees linking this pension with old age pension. Just as an elderly person gets the same pension in a month, the Haryana government will give the same pension for the maintenance of a tree for one year.
The statistics revealed that in Haryana, the maximum number of trees which have completed the life span of 75 years are in Rewari, Yamunanagar, Faridabad, Sirsa and Bhiwani districts. A total of 3876 trees are in this category and Rewari emerge on top of the list in terms of maximum trees with 680 trees followed by Yamunanagar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hisar Bhiwani and Panchkula with 526, 335, 287, 249, 210 and 205 trees respectively. There are 184, 154, 135, 132, and 112 trees in Kaithal, Jind, Sonipat, Mahendragarh and in Karnal respectively while remaining trees are in other districts. According to departmental information, five categories of places with old trees have been identified. It is pertinent to mention that as many as 2245 and 1378 trees are on Panchayat and individuals’ private land respectively. Similarly a total of 138, 67 and 48 trees have been identified standing on institutional, government and religious premises respectively.
According to the information received from the department, among the tress with the age of 75 years, the maximum number of trees are of Peepal, Banyan, Jaal and Neem. There are 1285 Peepal trees alone which constitute 33% of the total trees followed by Bargad, Jaal, and Neem trees. After this, there are 705 Bargad trees which is 18% of the total trees An official said that this scheme will play a role in increasing the income of small and landless farmers. Giving a pension of Rs 2500 annually to those taking care of trees older than 75 years will not only improve their financial condition but will also prevent the cutting of trees. The environment will also be safe and air quality will also improve. Let us also tell you that if any person has a tree of 75 years of age or above in his house and he is willing to take pension for the tree, then he will have to go to the Forest Department office of his district and apply. Notably that any person who has a tree of 75 years of age or more planted on his land will be entitled to receive the amount as pension. If the trees are on Panchayat land, their pension amount will go to the respective Panchayat fund. It has also come to light that according to the survey conducted by the department, more banyan and peepal trees have been found, whose age is estimated to be above 75 years. Further, the statistics revealed that most of the old trees are near government schools, village ponds and temples. Some of these trees are also in the areas adjoining Aravali and Shivalik. Forest Department officials further said that these trees are a part of the common heritage and are the biggest source of oxygen for life. It is noteworthy that a report was prepared regarding old trees and in the month of October, the report prepared on trees was submitted to the state government.