Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday, 5 June 2026 launched the state-wide third edition of the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' tree-plantation campaign from Gandhinagar, marking World Environment Day by personally planting a peepal sapling. The launch coincides with the completion of 12 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure and frames the drive as a collective pledge to green the earth.

Context

Posting in Gujarati on X, CM Patel announced: 'આજે વિશ્વ પર્યાવરણ દિવસ નિમિત્તે ગાંધીનગર ખાતેથી એક પેડ માં કે નામ 3.0 અભિયાનનો રાજ્યવ્યાપી પ્રારંભ કરાવી પીપળાના વૃક્ષનું વાવેતર કર્યું' ('On the occasion of World Environment Day, I launched the state-wide 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0' campaign from Gandhinagar and planted a peepal tree'). The peepal, a species of significant ecological and cultural value in India, was chosen as the symbolic first planting of the campaign.

World Environment Day is observed globally every 5 June to promote environmental awareness and policy action. Gujarat's launch event positions the state among early movers in the national afforestation calendar for 2026.

Policy Backdrop

The 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign — meaning 'One Tree in Mother's Name' — encourages citizens to plant trees as a tribute to their mothers. First organised at national and state levels in 2024, the drive is now in its third edition, signalling the government's intent to institutionalise it as an annual environmental mobilisation. The Gujarat Forest Department has planned the plantation of 551.91 lakh saplings across the state during the current year.

CM Patel also called on citizens to adopt PM Modi's 'Mission LiFE' (Lifestyle for Environment) in daily life — conserving water, petrol, and energy alongside intensified tree-planting. Mission LiFE was launched by Prime Minister Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to drive individual-level climate action. Gujarat's campaign explicitly links the tree-drive to this national framework, reinforcing the state's alignment with central environmental policy.

The Chief Minister also invoked the goal of 'Back to Basics' — 'બેક ટુ બેઝિક' — urging a move toward sustainable development by returning to resource-conscious living habits.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the campaign are Gujarat's citizens, who are being invited to participate directly as plantation volunteers. A target of 551.91 lakh saplings — roughly 5.5 crore plants — across the state represents one of the larger single-year afforestation commitments announced at the state level. The Gujarat Forest Department is the executing agency, responsible for nursery preparation, sapling distribution, and site coordination across all districts.

The campaign's framing around PM Modi's 12-year tenure adds a political dimension, connecting the environmental drive to a broader BJP narrative of continuity in governance and developmental symbolism. Linking the plantation milestone to the Prime Minister's anniversary is consistent with a pattern seen across BJP-governed states of aligning state programmes with central leadership milestones.

What's Next

The state government is expected to roll out district-level plantation drives through the monsoon season, when sapling survival rates are highest. Progress reports on district-wise coverage and sapling survival will be key metrics to watch in the months following the June launch. The success of the 3.0 format — and whether it achieves its 551.91 lakh target — could influence whether other state forest departments adopt a similar campaign structure for their own annual drives.