Yangchen C Rinzin

The staff of Samdrupjongkhar district court have been busy working in their vegetable garden for the past few weeks. This happens besides the court hearings.

With the borders closed and lockdown in India due to Covid-19 pandemic, the court staff decided to invest their time in growing vegetables—to not have to depend on import. The 50-decimal land behind the office proved just the right space.

Drangpon Kalden said that in the wake of Covid-19 where everyone was preparing in case the situation got worse. Likewise, the staff decided to make a vegetable garden so that if the situation deteriorated, they would not face vegetable shortage.

“The fear of unavailability of vegetables led us to take up farming. Self-sufficiency is very important,” drangpon said. “Attaining self-sufficient is not difficult, really.”

The staff work in vegetable garden during weekends. There are beginning to show already—mustard spinach, beans, spinach, ladyfingers, chillies, pumpkins, radish, watermelon…

“We can have our own fresh and organic vegetables,” drangpon said. “It’s been a little more than two weeks. All this is good. But we ensure that no court hearing is disturbed because of gardening.”