12-Dec-2022: Activities of Environment Education, Awareness and Training (EEAT)
Environment Education, Awareness and Training (EEAT) is a Central Sector scheme implemented by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with the objective, inter alia, to promote environmental awareness and mobilize students’ participation for environment conservation. Grants-in-aid were sanctioned under this Scheme for two major programmes, namely, National Green Corps (NGC) Programme and National Nature Camping Programme (NNCP).
Under the NGC programme, more than 1 lakh Eco-clubs have been formed in schools and colleges to educate students and to spread awareness on environmental issues. A financial assistance of Rs 5,000/- per Eco-club used to be provided under this programme with a ceiling of 500 school Eco-clubs per district and 100 college Eco-clubs per State. Activities undertaken by Eco-clubs included plantation drives, cleanliness drives, celebration of important environmental days, awareness and capacity building on solid waste management through waste segregation, green pledges, etc.
Further, under NNCP, organization of field visits/ nature camps in different Protected Areas/ Nature Parks/ Tiger Reserves of the country for students were supported and activities like preparing checklist of flora and fauna spotted in the nature trail, bird watching, trekking, green pledges, group discussions, sharing of experiences, etc. were undertaken during these camps. These camps provided ‘nature experience’ to students and had huge potential to trigger their sensitivity towards nature and its conservation. A financial assistance not exceeding Rs. 2,000/- per student for a camp of 2 nights and 3 days used to be provided under this programme, with a ceiling of 20 camps per State/ Union Territory.
The above programmes were implemented through State Nodal Agencies designated by the respective State Governments/ Union Territory (UT) Administrations.
The EEAT scheme has been revamped during the current financial year into ‘Environment Education Programme’.
20-Dec-2021: Career in Environment and Wildlife Conservation
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change is implementing the Environment Education, Awareness and Training (EEAT) Scheme with the objective to promote environmental awareness especially among school and college students and to mobilize their participation for conservation of environment. Under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme of this Scheme, more than one lakh Eco-clubs have been formed in schools and colleges to educate students and to spread awareness on environmental issues. Further, this Ministry also supports organization of field visits/ nature camps for school students in Protected Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks, etc. under the National Nature Camping Programme of EEAT Scheme with an objective to provide ‘nature experience’ to students and thereby to trigger their sensitivity towards nature and its conservation. As per information provided by Department of Youth Affairs, awareness on environment conservation and enrichment is a component in the regular activities of National Service Scheme (NSS). Volunteers of NSS organize activities on environment conservation, climate change, use of renewable energy and other related issues in addition to plantation drives.
This Ministry has launched the Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP) in June 2017 under the ongoing Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Scheme, on a pilot basis, at 10 locations, spread over 9 biogeographic regions of the country with the objective to skill youth in environment, forest and wildlife sectors and enabling them to be gainfully employed or self-employed. Based on the success of the pilot phase, the programme was extended to pan-India level in 2018-19 covering diverse fields like pollution monitoring (air/water/soil), emission inventory, operation of Sewage Treatment Plant(STP)/ Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP)/ Common Effluent Treatment Plant(CETP), waste management, environmental impact assessment, forest management, water budgeting and auditing, wildlife management, para taxonomy including Peoples Bio-Diversity Register(PBR), bamboo management and livelihood generation, etc. The training imparted under GSDP endeavours to enhance technical knowledge of the skilled workforce with a focus on hands-on training. The ENVIS Hubs/ Resource Partners and other institutions imparting training under the GSDP invite applications from all over the country and the placements take place based on employment opportunities available within or outside the State / Union Territory.