A schoolyard in Nadisar, Godhra taluka, Panchmahal district became the stage for Gujarat's latest push on two fronts — environmental conservation and welfare delivery — when Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the PM SHRI school campus on Friday, 25 September 2026 to plant saplings under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0' ('One Tree in the Name of Mother') campaign.

'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0' — the national drive reaches Panchmahal

The campaign, first launched nationally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024, urges every citizen to plant a tree as a tribute to their mother — turning personal sentiment into collective environmental action. This third edition of the drive signals the campaign's deepening institutionalisation, with state governments converting it into a recurring, district-level mobilisation exercise rather than a one-time gesture.

Gujarat has been among the states that consistently fold such central green initiatives into larger outreach events, and Panchmahal — a district in eastern Gujarat under active development focus — was chosen as today's venue under the concurrent Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, a state-level campaign that combines scheme awareness with on-ground service delivery.

Welfare stalls and scheme inspections alongside the saplings

CM Patel did not limit the visit to the symbolic planting. He walked through stalls set up by various state government departments, reviewing the implementation details of ongoing welfare schemes directly with officials and beneficiaries present. The format — combining a ceremonial green act with a live audit of scheme delivery — has become a signature of Gujarat's outreach model, keeping administrators accountable in front of a public audience.

Panchmahal's rural communities stand as the immediate beneficiaries of both strands: the environmental work addresses local green cover, while the scheme inspections push last-mile delivery of welfare programmes in an interior district.

Students' 'Viksit Bharat 2047' rangoli steals the afternoon

The afternoon's most vivid moment belonged to the school's students. Children at the PM SHRI campus — a model school under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India scheme launched in 2022 — presented a rangoli (traditional floor art) built around the theme of 'Viksit Bharat 2047', the government's vision for a fully developed India by the centenary of independence. CM Patel praised the students' artistic talent publicly, giving the national development narrative a grassroots, creative expression that no policy document can manufacture.

The Viksit Bharat 2047 theme, woven into school-level cultural programmes across BJP-governed states, is becoming a deliberate effort to seed long-horizon national aspiration early — in classrooms, not just cabinet rooms.

From a single school compound in eastern Gujarat, three interlocking signals went out on Friday: the state's green pledges are in their third iteration and gaining pace; welfare scheme delivery is being watched at the top; and the generation that will actually live in 2047 is already being asked to imagine it.