Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continued his daily tree-planting resolution on Wednesday, 27 May 2026, planting a sapling in New Delhi and urging citizens across India to join the effort through his 'Shiv Vriksh Mitra' initiative.

Context

Posting on X, Chouhan wrote: 'Pratidin paudharopan ke sankalp ke kram mein aaj Nayi Dilli mein paudha ropa' ('In continuation of my daily tree-planting resolution, I planted a sapling in New Delhi today'). He called on citizens to plant trees and care for them, framing collective effort as the only way to keep the earth green and to hand a 'beautiful, clean and better world' to future generations.

The post also invited the public to become a 'Shiv Vriksh Mitra' — a citizen engagement initiative — by giving a missed call, and carried the campaign hashtag #OnePlantADay.

Policy Backdrop

India's National Forest Policy, 1988 set a long-standing target of bringing 33 per cent of the country's geographical area under forest and tree cover through sustained afforestation and public participation. The Green India Mission, launched in 2014 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, further aimed to expand forest cover, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen ecosystem services.

Tree-planting drives have also become an integral part of India's international climate commitments, particularly its pledge to create an additional carbon sink. Agroforestry — a priority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare — directly links farm-level tree cover with rural livelihoods, giving Chouhan's ministerial portfolio a natural stake in such campaigns.

Stakeholders and Impact

The Shiv Vriksh Mitra scheme targets ordinary citizens — urban volunteers, schoolchildren, and rural communities alike — by lowering the barrier to participation through a simple missed-call mechanism. Senior ministers leading by personal example on social media has become a recognised mobilisation strategy in Indian public life, amplifying reach beyond formal government channels.

Environmental groups and urban local bodies stand to benefit if the campaign sustains momentum, as city-level green cover remains under pressure from rapid urbanisation. Progress on such citizen-mobilisation schemes is periodically reviewed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the context of India's urban greening targets.

What's Next

Chouhan's daily posts signal an intent to keep the issue on the public agenda through consistent, personal visibility. Observers will watch whether the Shiv Vriksh Mitra campaign translates into verifiable enrolment numbers and whether the Agriculture Ministry formally integrates it with existing agroforestry schemes. Any parliamentary discussion on scaling similar citizen-mobilisation models nationwide would be the next significant policy marker to follow.