The Chief Minister's Office of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, June 5, 2026 — observed globally as World Environment Day — shared a statement from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urging Indians to draw on the country's sacred texts to confront the growing environmental crisis, amplifying the message under the national tree-plantation campaign #EkPedMaaKeNaam.

In the post, CM Yogi stated: 'Humein paryavaraniya chunautiyon ka saamna karne ke liye Bharat ke sabhi pavitra granthon ka avlokan karna chahiye' — 'We must study all of India's sacred scriptures to confront environmental challenges.' The remark positions India's ancient textual heritage as a living resource for modern ecological action.

Context

The statement was made on World Environment Day, the United Nations-designated annual observance held every June 5 to drive global awareness and political momentum on environmental issues. Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, has used the occasion in recent years to launch or reinforce large-scale tree-plantation drives. The hashtag #EkPedMaaKeNaam — meaning 'One Tree in Mother's Name' — frames sapling planting as a personal, emotionally resonant act dedicated to one's mother.

The Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign has been adopted across multiple Indian states and encourages citizens to plant and nurture a sapling as a tribute to their mothers, blending civic duty with familial sentiment. Uttar Pradesh has conducted annual monsoon tree-plantation drives since at least 2017, setting multi-crore sapling targets each season.

Policy Backdrop

CM Yogi Adityanath, who has led Uttar Pradesh since 2017, has consistently linked governance themes to Hindu cultural traditions, and his environmental messaging follows that pattern. Invoking sacred texts — which include works such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and Arthashastra, all of which contain passages on the sanctity of nature, forests, and rivers — is part of a broader national trend of grounding environmental policy in cultural heritage.

Across India, state administrations have increasingly framed afforestation and conservation drives through references to traditional practices and classical texts, mirroring the Union government's efforts to combine measurable green targets with public-awareness messaging rooted in civilisational identity. This approach seeks to deepen community ownership of ecological goals beyond regulatory compliance.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary audience is the 250 million-plus residents of Uttar Pradesh, particularly those engaged with religious and cultural institutions that could amplify the tree-plantation message at the grassroots level. Environmental NGOs and Hindu religious organisations — including temple trusts and ashrams with large land holdings — are natural partners for any scripture-linked green initiative.

For citizens, the call to consult sacred texts represents an attempt to shift environmental responsibility from the state alone to every household and community. If religious institutions respond by integrating ecological themes into their programming, the campaign could reach audiences that conventional government outreach struggles to mobilise.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the Uttar Pradesh forest department's monsoon plantation targets for 2026 and whether the government formalises scriptural references in environmental education modules or school curricula. Observers will also watch for participation data from the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam drive — including sapling survival rates, which have been a persistent metric of accountability in past drives. The broader question is whether the cultural framing translates into measurable green cover gains across the state's urban and rural landscapes.