Jammu, January 4
Governor NN Vohra today emphasised the importance of involving students and NGOs in organising painting and essay writing competitions and other relevant programmes in educational institutions to generate awareness about climate change.
Describing students as future leaders, he said their involvement in awareness generation campaigns could make a significant difference on how we looked at various issues.
The Governor said this after interacting with Shreya Bharti, a Class XI student of Heritage School, who called on him after participating in the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change held at Durban in South Africa from November 28 to December 9 last year.
She was among the four Eco-Club students selected to represent the country in the conference, as part of the official Indian delegation.
Shreya was accompanied by Dr CM Seth, Chairperson of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, India (Jammu and Kashmir chapter),and Subeena Dogra, her eco-teacher.
The Governor said climate change would affect all forms of life, fauna and flora and cause wide-range of adverse consequences on varied fronts. Off season rain and snow would impact the traditional cropping patterns.
“We should prepare ourselves to meet all challenges,” he said. He added essays, articles and write-ups by students in different languages could be published in journals and newspapers to disseminate awareness about climate change.
The Governor said the universities of the state would do well if they launched some pilot projects on issues relating to climatic change, particularly in view of Jammu and Kashmir, having three distinct agro-climatic zones.
He said the participation of students from Jammu and Kashmir in such international conferences could inspire children in other states to take part in such activities. He presented a gift to Shreya and wished her a bright future.
Shreya shared her experience of the Durban Conference with the Governor and said she participated in group discussions, youth meets and several other events in the conference.
