Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai of Chhattisgarh planted a rudraksha sapling inside the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha premises during the ongoing monsoon (Pavas) session of the state legislature, participating in the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0' campaign. The gesture, made on 14 July 2026, was accompanied by a call to residents across the state to join the drive and plant trees in honour of their mothers.

Context

The Chief Minister's Office of Chhattisgarh shared the event on X, noting that 'हर एक पौधा हरित, समृद्ध और सुरक्षित भविष्य का संकल्प है' — 'every sapling is a pledge for a green, prosperous and secure future.' CM Sai chose the rudraksha — a tree of cultural and ecological significance — for the symbolic plantation, reinforcing the campaign's dual emphasis on nature and heritage.

Speaking at the occasion, Sai urged citizens to plant at least one sapling in their mother's honour, care for it regularly, and contribute actively to building a clean, green, and healthy Chhattisgarh for future generations.

Policy Backdrop

The 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign was originally launched at the national level in 2024 by the Government of India as a mass afforestation initiative anchored in personal and familial sentiment. The idea was to make tree plantation an emotionally resonant act rather than a bureaucratic exercise, linking each sapling to a citizen's mother.

Chhattisgarh has adapted the campaign through successive iterations — now in its third phase (3.0) — scaling up community participation and embedding the drive within the state's broader environmental and forest-cover goals. Conducting the plantation inside the Vidhan Sabha complex during a legislative session signals the government's intent to visibly align governance with sustainability messaging.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary audience for the campaign is the general public of Chhattisgarh, who are being invited to participate individually and collectively. By situating the event at the legislature, the government also sends a signal to elected representatives that environmental stewardship is a legislative priority, not merely an administrative one.

Chhattisgarh is among India's more forested states, and campaigns of this nature are intended to supplement official afforestation programmes with citizen-driven action. The survival and long-term care of planted saplings — rather than the planting event itself — will determine the campaign's ecological impact.

What's Next

The success of Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0 will be measured by the scale of public participation across Chhattisgarh's districts in the weeks following the legislative session. Authorities and civil society groups are likely to track plantation numbers and, critically, sapling survival rates — a metric that has historically distinguished meaningful green drives from symbolic ones.

If district-level mobilisation picks up momentum during the monsoon season — the optimal window for planting — the campaign could contribute meaningfully to the state's long-term forest and green-cover targets under Viksit Chhattisgarh goals.