Haryana to Include Plantation Maintenance in Tender Process, Says Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh

Chandigarh, December 1 — Haryana Forest and Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh has directed officials to link the tender process for plantation and its maintenance with the Haryana Engineering Works Portal to ensure full transparency. He said the maintenance of saplings must be made an integral part of the tender to ensure their survival and protection.

The minister added that regular monitoring will be conducted to check whether contractors are depositing the ESI amount of labourers every month so that workers’ welfare is safeguarded. He made it clear that no single authority, including the Divisional Forest Officer, will hold exclusive control over the tender process, and a transparent system will be adopted.

Rao Narbir Singh issued these instructions while presiding over a review meeting with departmental officers in Chandigarh.

During the meeting, officials informed him that the Forest Department currently operates 87 ranges across the state, and plantation tenders are awarded for a five-year period. The minister instructed that large-scale plantation must be carried out along canal stretches. He directed the Forest Department to coordinate with the Irrigation and Water Resources Department to re-measure authorised land along canals, clear encroachments, and use the freed land for extensive plantation.

He further said the government is considering a separate budget for nurseries. The aim is to ensure maximum plantation every year under Central and State government schemes on panchayat and other government lands, with a clear accountability mechanism for maintenance.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Sudhir Rajpal, Principal Chief Conservators of Forests, and other senior officials of the Forest and Environment Department.