After a video of a Class 5 schoolgirl crying over felled trees went viral, the Manipur government has appointed her as the State’s green ambassador.
The trees were reportedly axed for a road-widening project and the girl had planted two of them as saplings when she was in Class 1.
An order from H. Balkrisna Singh, Manipur’s Director of Information and Public Relations made Elangbam Valentina Devi the green ambassador for the Chief Minister’s Green Manipur Mission and other tree-plantation activities taken up in the State.
The video showed her love for trees and her breakdown proved how much she cared about them. Manipur CM Nongthombam Biren told The Hindu,
I saw the video of this girl crying like anything, as if someone very near to her had passed away. Her feeling for two felled trees, which we adults would probably not think much about, moved me. I asked Yengkhom Victoria, the district’s Superintendent of Police to meet her, console her and give her at least 20 saplings to plant at a suitable place.
He further added,
Later, I realised there could not be a better ambassador than her for the Green Manipur Mission we had launched in June. Her passion for trees at such a young age was so infectious that I took a decision to have an order issued and hand it over through government officials to her.
According to the order, Valentina will be a part of all advertisements and campaigns that will be made to promote greenery in the state.
You can watch the video here.