स्थान: दुनिया का सबसे सुरक्षित बीज-घर

स्वालबार्ड द्वीपसमूह पृथ्वी का सबसे उत्तरी क्षेत्र है जहां नियमित उड़ानें उपलब्ध हैं। यह दूरस्थ होने के बावजूद पहुंच योग्य है, और इसकी भूगर्भीय स्थिरता व बेहद कम आर्द्रता लंबे समय तक बीज संरक्षण के लिए आदर्श वातावरण प्रदान करती है। वॉल्ट का वास्तविक भंडारण क्षेत्र पहाड़ के भीतर 100 मीटर से भी अधिक गहराई पर है, जहां–18°C का नियंत्रित तापमान बीजों की उम्र को दशकों, बल्कि सदियों तक बढ़ा देता है। पर्माफ्रॉस्ट यानी स्थायी बर्फीली ज़मीन, वॉल्ट को प्राकृतिक रूप से ठंडा रखने में मदद करती है। यही कारण है कि अगर बिजली भी चली जाए, तो भी बीज सुरक्षित रहते हैं।

2025 तक की स्थिति: बढ़ती विविधता और नए जमा

साल 2025 स्वालबार्ड वॉल्ट के लिए महत्वपूर्ण रहा। फरवरी 2025 में लगभग 13,000 नए बीज नमूने जमा किए गए। जून 2025 में I CARDA ने युद्धग्रस्त पश्चिम एशिया से पुनर्जीवित किए गए अपने बीजों का नया बैच जमा कराया। जून 2025 के दूसरे बड़े जमा में 14 जीन-बैंकों ने 11,206 नमूने भेजे, जिनमें कई पारंपरिक और सांस्कृतिक किस्में शामिल थीं। अक्टूबर 2025 तक कुल संग्रह लगभग 13.78 लाख नमूनों तक पहुंच चुका है।
इन नए जमा में अफ़्रीका, एशिया, यूरोप और दक्षिण अमेरिका की कई दुर्लभ, पुरानी व पारंपरिक फसल किस्में शामिल थी, जिनमें एडज़ुकी बीन्स, ज्वार, बीन, चावल, बाजरा और कई सब्जियों की अनूठी किस्में भी शामिल हैं।

बीज वॉल्ट में बीज क्यों रखे जाते हैं?

स्वालबार्ड ग्लोबल सीड वॉल्ट में बीज इसलिए रखे जाते हैं ताकि दुनिया की सभी महत्वपूर्ण फसल किस्में हमेशा सुरक्षित रहें। अगर कहीं युद्ध, प्राकृतिक आपदा, जलवायु परिवर्तन या किसी दुर्घटना से बीज नष्ट हो जाएं, तो इन्हीं सुरक्षित रखे गए बीजों से फसलों को दोबारा उगाया जा सके।

• जलवायु परिवर्तन से कई पुरानी किस्में खत्म हो रही हैं, इसलिए उनका बैक-अप यहां रखा जाता है।
  

• युद्ध और आपदाएं जीन बैंकों को नष्ट कर देती हैं — वॉल्ट उन्हें बचाने का अंतिम सुरक्षित स्थान है।
  

• दुर्लभ व पारंपरिक किस्में जिनमें खास गुण होते हैं (जैसे सूखा या ठंड झेलना), यहां सुरक्षित रहती हैं।
  

• भोजन सुरक्षा के लिए, ताकि संकट के समय भी नए पौधे उगाए जा सकें।
  सीड वॉल्ट मानवता का “फसल-बैकअप सिस्टम” है, जो हमारी खाद्य विरासत को भविष्य के लिए सुरक्षित रखता है।

प्रबंधन: वैश्विक सहयोग का उदाहरण

सीड वॉल्ट नॉर्वे सरकार, नॉर्डिक्स जेनेटिक रिसोर्स सेंटर (NordGen) और क्रॉप ट्रस्ट की साझेदारी में संचालित होता है। यहां जमा किए गए बीजों का कानूनी स्वामित्व कभी बदलता नहीं जिन संस्थानों ने बीज भेजे हैं, वही उन्हें निकाल सकते हैं। यह “ब्लैक बॉक्स पॉलिसी” सुरक्षा और विश्वास दोनों सुनिश्चित करती है।

चुनौतियां और समाधान

हाल के वर्षों में आर्कटिक में बढ़ते तापमान ने चिंता पैदा की है, लेकिन वॉल्ट की सुरंगों को जलरोधी बनाने और उन्नत ड्रेनेज सिस्टम लगाने से इसकी सुरक्षा और मजबूत हो गई है। 2025 में हुई नई तकनीकी सुधारों ने यह सुनिश्चित किया है कि वॉल्ट आने वाली कई सदियों तक कार्यरत रह सके।

भविष्य की खाद्य सुरक्षा की उम्मीद

आज, जब दुनिया जलवायु परिवर्तन, युद्ध, जैव-विविधता के नुकसान और खाद्य संकट जैसी चुनौतियों का सामना कर रही है, स्वालबार्ड ग्लोबल सीड वॉल्ट एक ऐसी संरचना है जो मानवता को “भविष्य के लिए आश्वासन” देती है। यह केवल बीजों का संग्रह नहीं, बल्कि पूरी दुनिया की कृषि विरासत का एक सुरक्षित भंडार है, जो आने वाली पीढ़ियों के लिए हमारी खाद्य सुरक्षा की गारंटी बन चुका है।

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As superfoods are known for the health benefits of their remarkable nutrient density, over 90 schools were selected with majority of the children from low-income families. From Visakhapatnam, where students come from rural communities, 66 schools were selected. In Delhi, about 28 schools under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were selected for the distribution, to promote the overall well-being of children.

“As a result of growing global crises such as climate change, COVID-19 and food insecurity, the marginalised groups of society suffer the most, especially children. We believe that providing school children from underprivileged families with superfoods will build their immunity, enabling them to learn effectively in classrooms,” says Dr Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS.

With the provision of these healthy food kits, the children were introduced to healthy eating habits. A nutritious diet contributes to their physical health, which results in a healthy mind for learning. In addition to improving their health after the COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of nutrient-rich food items in schools was also intended to help children by giving them the food they needed for growth.

“It was important for us to work with these children for Chegg’s Global Day of Impact. We are a learners first company, and we are happy to be working with SEEDS to provide healthy and nutritious meals to over 15,500 students across Delhi-NCR and Visakhapatnam. A nutritious diet provides growing children with nutrients necessary for their mental and physical well-being and we look forward to a long collaboration with SEEDS, in supporting vulnerable communities,” says Vijay T.S., Managing Director, Chegg India.

Several dignitaries, government representatives and members of the school administration were present at the distribution of nutrition kits at the MCD Shakarpur School in Delhi.

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The formal announcement of the programme was done through an online event in the presence of Kamal Kishore, Member, National Disaster Management Authority. SEEDS initiated local efforts for vaccination since March 2021 in Delhi city. With the launch event, the programme will be carried out nationally for next 9 months to reach out to over 1 million people in Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Telangana.

Dr Manu Gupta, Co-founder, SEEDS said, “Our programme Kavach is designed to accelerate the vaccine adoption efforts across the country and that’s the only way to safeguard communities from the anticipated third wave. We are committed to reach out to the most marginalised communities that are getting left out due to various challenges and contribute to government’s efforts in ensuring Covid free clusters.”

SEEDS has established a ground force of community volunteers to work alongside frontline health workers and local health officials. All community volunteers will be trained on best practices for vaccine adoption.

Shri Krishna Vatsa, Member of National Disaster Management Authority said, “I am delighted to be part of this wonderful initiative by SEEDS. Such programs help in strengthening the momentum of the ongoing vaccination drive. We have vaccinated over 327 million people. We still have to go a very long way. To make vaccine accessible to every corner of the country, government is working on addressing the digital divide so that people with no smartphones and access to CoWin app can also be vaccinated. There is a need to identify the most vulnerable class and NGOs can play a pivotal role in doing so. Training of health workers, community workers another extremely important. These efforts of SEEDS will help in augmenting the nationwide vaccination campaign. We are together in this very important drive as vaccination is the only way out to beat Covid-19.”

Under the campaign, training and support to health workers will be done for better handling of COVID situations. Apart from this, community meetings will be organised to promote awareness, prevention, and sensitisation of COVID-19 best practices.

SEEDS will identify blind spots where a large segment of local communities have not been vaccinated and hold meetings with community leaders and stakeholders for vaccination plans of their village/ward/locality. People will also be assisted with registration on the CO-WIN app and tracking for post-vaccination side effects, ensuring follow-up on second doses as advised by MoHFW will also be done.

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MetLife Foundation is working with multiple NGOs in India to help mitigate the health and financial impacts of COVID-19. MetLife Foundation was created in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its founding through the end of 2019, MetLife Foundation provided more than $860 million in grants and $85 million in programme-related investments to make a positive impact in the communities where MetLife operates.

In India, the sum spent during the Covid era is around $600,000. SEEDS India used financial support from MetLife Foundation to provide dry rations, hygiene kits and financial relief to more than 2,800 families across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Wayanad, Dehradun and Haridwar. With government permits to operate during the lockdown, field teams from SEEDS India equipped with personal protective equipment worked closely with local authorities to identify those in most immediate need of food and supplementary funds.

MetLife Foundation worked with Grameen Foundation India to offer unconditional cash transfers to 1,225 vulnerable households across Bihar, Nawada district and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, reaching more than 6,000 people whose livelihoods were impacted by the pandemic.

In remote areas where there are no bank branches or ATMs, poor women have a very hard time-saving money to weather a crisis. Mittras—often female leaders in their communities who are better able to relate to the poor, rural women they serve—connect households to essential financial services through mobile phones. Cash transfers to these mobile money accounts will make it possible to keep food on the table and micro-businesses afloat during COVID-19. Grameen leveraged its ‘Grameen4Giving’ app and on-the-ground presence to identify those facing hardship.

To support children impacted by the pandemic, MetLife Foundation has been working with RoomtoRead to help more than 100 children from low-income families continue their education, and has partnered with Aasraa Trust to provide shelter and nutritious meals to more than 75 vulnerable children living in shelter care.

In addition, the Foundation recently kicked off a three-year programme with nonprofit organisation Drishtee to support women from the Madhubani district in Bihar. The CSR programme will expand their income generation opportunities and build a supply chain to establish urban market linkages. The CSR initiative is expected to benefit 6,300 families over time.

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Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar was instituted by Government of India to recognise and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organisations in India in the field of Disaster Management. It is announced every year on 23rd January celebrating the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual. The third edition of Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar’ received an overwhelming response as there were 371 valid nominations from institutions and individuals.

SEEDS Co-founders, Dr Manu Gupta and Dr Anshu Sharma said, “We are humbled and honoured to receive the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 from the Government of India. This award on the eve of our 27th anniversary only strengthens our resolve to continue our work with communities in strengthening disaster resilience. The recognition of SEEDS efforts has underscored the importance of bottom-up approaches ensuring agency of affected communities and ensuring no one gets left behind. Our sincere gratitude goes to all the members of the SEEDS family, our co-workers, donors, and friends with whom we share this honour.”

Recognising the importance of local leaders in building resilience to disasters, the organisation has actively engaged with local leaders in ensuring lasting change towards reducing vulnerabilities on communities. In improving disaster readiness, SEEDS has worked on safety and security of children helping teachers and students in identifying, assessing and managing risks in their own local environments.

Post the occurrence of earthquakes in India (2001, 2005, 2015), SEEDS trained a group of building masons in disaster resistant construction techniques. These masons became ambassadors across several emergencies in multiple States and in Nepal helping in reconstruction efforts. SEEDS is also leveraging technologies like AI based modeling for early warning to significantly improve preparedness and decision making ability of affected communities to mitigate risk reduction.

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Honeywell Safe Schools is a school safety programme, which is part of the multinational company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts in the region.

While schools have remained shut during the ongoing pandemic, disrupting the regular CSR outreach programme, Honeywell and SEEDS focused on making school infrastructure safer for students and teachers when they eventually return.

SEEDS engaged architects and engineers to strengthen the structure of these school buildings through repairs, retrofits and refurbishments. Experts were also brought in to create a learning environment that is informative, engaging, comfortable, and disabled-friendly. The renovation efforts focused on creating an environment that not only encourages learning, but also brings together the community at large.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, said, “Our state is well known for schools and educational institutes. I would like to commend Honeywell and SEEDS for taking up the responsibility of creating a safer environment for our students and teachers. If we can ensure safety today then future can be made safe too! I applaud the initiatives taken by SEEDS through Honeywell Safe Schools programme and assure our consistent support for its progress.”

Dr. Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS said, “At SEEDS, we thrive on building resilient communities through comprehensive interventions in the area of education, health, disaster recovery, response, and preparedness. Under the Honeywell Safe Schools programme, we create safe, conducive school environments that will encourage students to explore more, empowering them to become the change agents of tomorrow.”

Dr. Akshay Bellare, President Honeywell India, said, “As a global leader in technologies that create safe and secure living and working spaces, Honeywell is pleased to extend our commitment to building safer school environments in the communities we serve in Uttarakhand.”

The Honeywell Safe Schools programme adheres to the National School Safety Policy (NSSP) Guidelines, 2016, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, and the ASEAN School Safety Initiative. These frameworks define the essentials of school safety and the importance of building a safe environment for children.

Piloted in Delhi in 2017, the Honeywell Safe Schools programme has already trained more than 69,000 students, 48,000 parents, and 4,500 teachers in 155 schools across Delhi and Uttarakhand.

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While phase-1 of the distribution drive provided around 3.7 million meals across five cities, in phase-2, this CSR partnership of NGO SEEDS and Honeywell aims to provide an additional 7 million meals across nine cities: Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Pune, Madurai, Haridwar, Dehradun, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Cumulatively, this multi-city outreach will cover 1.78 lakh people.

At the beginning of the countrywide lockdown, there was a huge outpouring of support for the displaced and marginalized. These efforts have come down significantly since the country began to restart and reopen. However, there are large swathes of the population – especially migrant workers and trans women – that continue to suffer from job losses and depleted savings.

Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS said, “We are committed to reaching out to the bottom 1% most vulnerable communities during any crisis. Though the country is currently under the unlock phase, there are still communities struggling against daily hardships. SEEDS continues to reach out to such communities for the sixth month running and is committed to carry out its support work until they can safely come out of the current crisis.”

Each food kit comprises rice, wheat flour, sugar, pulses, cooking oil, and salt.

Dr. Akshay Bellare, President, Honeywell India, said, “The pandemic has impacted a large population of India. Honeywell has actively engaged in supporting communities during this crisis by undertaking ration distribution to support people in need of basic amenities. In the last few months, the CSR team of Honeywell reached out to five cities and offered 12,300 relief packages to 61,500 people. We are doing yet another drive to offer basic food rations across multiple cities in support of communities.”

Over the coming weeks, SEEDS will engage with social volunteers and government officials to undertake the distribution drive.

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The UN General Assembly adopted August 19^th as World Humanitarian Day five years after a gruesome bombing in Baghdad on 19 August 2003. The attack on a hotel killed no less than 22 humanitarian aid workers. The blast took the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a charismatic Brazilian UN diplomat. Much of his career was devoted to defending human rights and protecting refugees. This day pays tribute to his legacy and the work of countless humanitarian aid workers like him.

Theme of World Humanitarian Day 2020

World Humanitarian Day has a different theme every year, which puts the spotlight on a unique aspect of aid workers who are passionate about the protection and dignity of people. The theme for World Humanitarian Day 2020 is paying a tribute to real-life heroes who’ve put everything on the line in an effort to help others.

Since the pandemic is the biggest challenge to humanitarian work in every corner of the globe, the #RealLifeHeroes campaign focuses heavily on what prompts these humanitarians to do what they do despite the risks associated with COVID-19 infections. These are people who are delivering food to the needy and the hard-to-reach, sheltering young girls and boys in remote areas, volunteering in refugee camps, reaching out to the people affected by the floods in Assam and Bihar, all despite the looming threat of coronavirus.

Top humanitarian organisations in India

Among the oldest humanitarian organisations in the subcontinent is Indian Red Cross (IRCS). From disaster response in floods, droughts and earthquakes to blood donation and welfare programmes, IRCS covers a wide gamut. SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) is another veteran NGO reaching out to the unseen for 25 years. It provided 3.7 million meals in the midst of the pandemic. SEEDS teams are currently engrossed in rescue and relief work for people in Assam affected by the floods. Amnesty International India is the country unit of Amnesty which defends human rights and justice for all.

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SEEDS is promptly reaching out with safe drinking water, dry food, hygiene and family utility kit. This also includes key items required for COVID-19 safety. A team member from the region informed, “The situation at the ground level is worse than ever. There are drinking water, food and hygiene issues. Thousands of families are battling with the intense flood situation coupled with the challenges of ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.”

Dr Manu Gupta, Co-Founder, SEEDS, said, “With millions of people displaced by the floods, it has become critical that relief reaches them at the earliest. Our team is working relentlessly to analyse and meet the immediate requirements of the affected people in an effective manner. We are also taking necessary precautions to mitigate the risk of the pandemic.”

The floods have caused extensive damage to the houses, water sources, toilets and other infrastructures. Due to incessant rains and increased water in these regions and COVID-19 looming large, it is essential for communities to have a roof over their heads at the earliest. SEEDS will also work towards providing repair and restoration of homes and schools as part of the recovery intervention. It urges citizens to extend their support to help families of Assam, build back better.

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A dedicated of team of doctors and health care volunteers has been assigned for the initiative. They will be traveling to these locations on a bus as a part of Cyclone Amphan response. The mobile bus has equipment for conducting comprehensive cancer screening and diagnosis. It is also equipped with advanced facilities for x-ray, ultrasound, bone and blood tests to provide better diagnostics than primary healthcare centres. The medical bus will also provide telemedicine facilities where expert doctors from Hyderabad will be available based on network availability locally.

Dr Anshu Sharma, Co-Founder, SEEDS, said, “We are committed to reaching out to the maximum number of people who are the most vulnerable in these difficult times of crisis. We are glad to have come together with Grace Foundation to turn this idea into reality and provide healthcare assistance to communities while on the move.”

The initiative aims to reach out to the most vulnerable far-flung communities who are struggling with the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Cyclone Amphan. #Healthcareonwheels began on June 8, 2020 and went to different villages in these districts until June 20, providing free medicines and doctor consultations to the affected people.

One of the doctors, Dr Motika Abhishek while sharing his experience from the ground, said,  “We have been here for more than 10 days now and every moment we spend with the community members here leaves us touched, full of gratitude and with satisfaction of being able to help to those struggling to make their ends meet.”

Rajiv Lal, Principal Advisor, Grace Foundation said, “We have conducted 12 medical camps in these districts as the disaster has not only taken away people’s homes but also exposed them to highly contagious diseases. We are happy to have collaborated with SEEDS for this unique initiative and were able to monitor the health of people in these remote areas, diagnose them and administer medication where needed.”

Increasing active cases of Covid-19, followed by cyclone Amphan, had a devastating effect on rural communities in the interior regions of West Bengal. While the relief effort continues on the ground, it is necessary to create long-term resilience among vulnerable communities to #BuildBackBetter. During such uncertain times, where people are not sure whether to seek refuge or to pay heed to their body ailments, the mobile bus service equipped with medication, facilities and qualified doctors will help in treating people and providing much-needed care.

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