A sarpanch of Laval village in Vaso Taluka has been providing tax relief to villagers who have planted saplings Kheda district. The scheme, launched last year by Sarpanch Mahipatsinh Chauhan, allows for a 10% discount for each sapling planted near the villagers' homes, with a cap on total relief at 30%. Last year, the villagers planted 2,000 tree saplings, of which 1,400 have survived. "Aside from providing a discount on their taxes, we also follow up to ensure that the beneficiary is taking enough care of the sapling after plantation," said Chauhan. This year, the village has roped in non-residential Indians from the village to lend a hand in the greening effort. There's also a tree adoption programme as part of the scheme, whereby people can have trees named after themselves by giving a donation of Rs 500 to the village. "With the donated money, we have hired a gardener to take care of the saplings and trees. Under this scheme, we've already planted 58 saplings," added the sarpanch. Many villagers have embraced the scheme and contributed considerably. A 31-year-old man left a budding career in the corporate sector to help reform his village. "I was working in the private sector in Kolkata. Whenever I used to come visit my village, I felt that there's no change in the village. There's no development and we don't even have infrastructure," he said. Chauhan spoke about the long way the village has come over the last year. "When I took charge as sarpanch in December 2016, there was only Rs 1,937 in the bank account of Laval gram panchayat; it was very difficult to carry out development work with such meager funds. But gradually, with the help of donations and grants, we have tried to make the village a model one," remarked Chauhan. GOING GREEN This year, the village has roped in non-residential Indians from the village to lend a hand in the greening effort. There’s a tree adoption programme as part of the scheme, whereby people can have trees named after themselves by donating Rs 500 to village.

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