Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present a historic gift to the country in general and Madhya Pradesh in particular – a few hours from now on his birthday – by releasing Namibian cheetahs within Kuno National Park under the maiden transcontinental project of its kind.
It was officially learnt that the world’s fastest animal will be released at 1030 hrs and the translocation of the carnivores ends a seven-decade-long hiatus.
The Prime Minister shall release the beasts in two enclosures. A team of Forest Department officials has been imparted training in Namibian Cheetah Management Techniques. The integrated management of the project envisages a habitat stretching over 750 sq km. Besides, about 3,000 sq km is suitable for free movement of the creatures in Sheopur and Shivpuri districts.
Mr Modi will plant saplings at Sheopur district’s Karahal helipad site under the Green Madhya Pradesh campaign at 1140 hrs. He is scheduled to commence addressing a conference of women self-help groups at the Model School Ground, Karahal, at noon. The Prime Minister shall e-dedicate the Special Backward Tribes Group Skill Development Training centres at Shivpuri, Mandla, Shahdol and Tamia. He will interact with the ladies and seek inputs regarding entrepreneurship.
Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Civil Aviation and Steel Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggansingh Kulaste, State Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, Tribal Affairs and Scheduled Castes Welfare Minister Meena Singh, MoS for Horticulture and Food Processing (Independent Charge) and Narmada Valley Development Bharat Singh Kushwaha, MoS for Panchayat and Rural Development Ramkhelawan Patel and state BJP President Vishnu Datt Sharma shall be among those gracing the occasion.
The cheetah was declared extinct in India way back in 1952. International wildlife experts held a discussion with the central and state dispensations vis-à-vis translocation. It is a matter of pride for the state that the Wildlife Institute of India found Kuno National Park to be the most suitable among ten places during a survey.
In the other context, as many as 3.86 lakh SHGs are working under the State Rural Livelihood Mission for women empowerment and orientation. More than 43 lakh families are associated with these groups. Work related to vegetable farming, milk production, incense sticks, hand wash, soap manufacturing, agriculture and animal husbandry-based activities – in addition to operation of the Aajeevika Poshan Vatika – are being executed by the groups.
