Shivraj Singh Chouhan gives the message of Green India during dialogue with Vriksh Mitra from across the country

Shivraj Singh Chouhan took a major resolve to turn environment protection into a mass movement among nearly 17,000 ‘Vriksh Mitra’ connected from across the country during the ‘Environment Protection Resolve Programme and Vriksh Mitra Samvad’ organised at Pusa Complex in New Delhi. Padma Bhushan environmentalist Shri Anil Joshi, renowned doctor and social worker Dr. Anoop Hazela, Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research Dr. M.L. Jat and hundreds of ‘Vriksh Mitra’ from various states of the country participated in person while thousands of companions joined through virtual medium. All together gave a collective message of saving the earth by connecting trees, water, soil, energy conservation and plastic-free living with public participation.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan presented a clear and clean roadmap to give environment protection the form of a concrete mass movement based on suggestions and dialogue received from ‘Vriksh Mitra’. He decided that every family will plant a tree on occasions like birthdays, wedding anniversaries, birth of children, and pious memories of parents and turn these into ‘Tree Festivals’, so that slowly this tradition becomes a habit in every household. Every ‘Vriksh Mitra’ will plant at least one tree in a year and take a resolve to connect at least five new people with this campaign, whose public announcement will be made through their post on social media so that a strong network can be prepared by Hariyali Amavasya on 12 August. Shri Chouhan proposed forming committees of ‘Vriksh Mitra Pariwar’ at national, state, district, block and village levels to run the entire campaign in an organised framework, getting this structure formally registered and identifying fixed sites for plantation in panchayats and urban local bodies, where every auspicious work and government schemes – like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Lakhpati Didi Yojana, programmes of Agriculture and Rural Development Departments – will start only by planting trees. Along with this, collective plantation and nature worship on Govardhan Puja, World Environment Day and Hariyali Amavasya, appeal to plant trees in wedding invitation cards and religious-social events, public awareness through saints, social leaders and social media influencers, separate logo and digital portal of ‘Vriksh Mitra’ Family and creating such a social environment in which not planting a tree becomes a matter of shame for people and planting a tree becomes a symbol of progress and prestige, were also resolved.