Chief Minister attended the ceremony of taking charge and felicitation of newly appointed Chairman of Chhattisgarh Plant Board, Shri Vikas Markam
Raipur, 3 May 2025
Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai attended the ceremony of taking charge and felicitation of the newly appointed Chairman of Chhattisgarh Tribal Local Health Tradition and Medicinal Plant Board, Shri Vikas Markam, as the chief guest at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in the capital Raipur today. On this occasion, he congratulated and wished Shri Markam for the new responsibility.
While addressing the ceremony of taking over the charge, Chief Minister Shri Sai said that an awareness campaign will be run on medicinal plants in Bastar and Surguja divisions through Chhattisgarh Tribal Local Health Tradition and Medicinal Plant Board. He said that medicinal plants have many qualities, along with these, there is a need to promote the plantation of medicinal plants for better income. There is immense potential for this in Bastar and Surguja. The board needs to do more work in this direction.
Chief Minister Shri Sai said that our Baiga-Gunia and Vaidya have been treating people by identifying forest medicines since ancient times. He said that Dr. Raman Singh ji had formed Chhattisgarh Tribal, Local Health Tradition and Medicinal Plant Board for the betterment of Baiga, Vaidya and human health service. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has honored Shri Hemanchad Manjhi, a traditional Vaidya of Orchha of Abujhmad of Chhattisgarh with Padma Shri for his excellent work in the field of medicinal plants.
Tribal Development Minister Shri Ram Vichar Netam said that the Chhattisgarh Tribal, Local Health Tradition and Medicinal Plant Board has been formed for the purpose for which it will certainly be able to fulfill those objectives under the leadership of Shri Markam. The board needs to work on preparing a database by collecting the knowledge of Vaidyas and experience of medicinal plants so that this data can be used for the betterment of society and human health.
Forest and Climate Change Minister Shri Kedar Kashyap said that Chhattisgarh is the oxygen zone of the country. The Chhattisgarh Tribal, Local Health Tradition and Medicinal Plant Board has the important responsibility of conservation and promotion of medicinal plants. Our government is doing better work for the villagers living in the forest. In Chhattisgarh, forest produce is purchased at the support price of Rs 5500 per standard sack, which benefits tendu leaf collectors. Along with this, 67 types of forest produce are also purchased. Former Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sameer Oraon and the newly appointed Chairman of the Plant Board Shri Vikas Markam also addressed the charge taking and felicitation ceremony.
On this occasion, Raipur Lok Sabha MP Shri Brijmohan Agarwal, Rajya Sabha MP Shri Devendra Pratap Singh, MLAs Shri Rajesh Munat, Moti Lal Sahu, Gajendra Yadav, Neelkanth Tekam, Pranav Marpachchi, along with the chairmen of various boards and commissions, Chhattisgarh tribal, local health tradition and medicinal plant board officers and employees and a large number of eminent citizens including Vaidyas and Ayurvedacharyas were present.
