The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) will fund setting up of herbal gardens in 100 schools in Jammu and Kashmir with an aim to create awareness among the students about various common herbs and their uses.
The NMPB has sanctioned Rs 53 lakhs to be released over the next five years for starting herbal gardens in the schools which have land available for the purpose, an official in the state Education Department said.
He said the Board will provide an initial amount of Rs 25,000 to each of the 100 institutes, including 12 District Institutes of Education and Trainings (DIETs), in Kashmir.
"The balance amount will be paid in equal instalments over the next four years," the official said.
The idea was conceived by the Education Department in September 2015 following which 15 schools were selected to set up herbal gardens on pilot basis.
The pilot project was successful and the state authorities approached the NMPB for funding 315 schools for setting up similar gardens.
However, the Board has approved only 100 as of now, the official said, adding more schools can be added to the scheme depending on how these 100 fare.
The Education Department has done the ground work for getting funding from the NMPB for at least 100 schools in Jammu region, which has wide variety of herbs with medicinal value growing in the wild, as well.
A proposal has been submitted to the NMPB for funding herbal gardens in 150 schools and 10 DIETs of the region, the official said.
The unique feature of the herbal gardens will be that these will be set up and maintained by students of the respective schools, he said.
"This will be an initiation for the students to entreprenuership...The profits from the sale of herbs or the products, as the case may be, will be shared by the participating students," the official added.
The herbal gardens will also be a learning experience for the students as they will get to know the local names of the herbs and plants and their uses in the daily life, he said.
"Some herbs have very high commercial value as these are used in preparation of medicines and cosmetic products," he said.
The Education Department formed a team which will help the students in designing and setting up the gardens.
A Botany post-graduate has been roped in to head the team, which will also conduct feasibility surveys before deciding on which herbs should be grown in these gardens.
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