A massive Jafra sapling planting campaign has been successfully launched under the Setu Yojana in Swaviman area of Chitrakonda block under the direction of Malkangiri District Magistrate Pratesh Arvind Rajashirke. The campaign has been launched simultaneously in Ghatukonda village of Gunthawada panchayat, Saderi village of Populuur panchayat and Alurkota village of Kurmanur panchayat. Through this campaign, it is aimed to plant 8 lakh Jafra saplings in about 1,000 hectares of land, which will benefit about 1,500 Scheduled Tribe families in the area. It will provide a sustainable livelihood opportunity in the coming days, especially to tribal communities like Konda Reddy, Parja, Kandha, Gedbawa, Kotia and Diksha.
The main objective of this campaign is to improve the economic condition of the local people through the collection of Jafra seeds and their sale in the market, maintain the balance of the environment and increase greenery. In addition, this jafra cultivation will greatly help the district administration in completely eradicating the illegal cannabis cultivation in the area. During the discussion with the District Collector, the tribal community has voluntarily promised to give up illegal cannabis cultivation and adopt this sustainable cultivation. The district administration and ITDA have appealed to the local people to cooperate in making this campaign a success and taking the development trend of the Swabhiman region forward.
