Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday, 28 May 2026, planted a sapling in New Delhi as part of his stated daily tree-planting commitment, urging citizens across India to join a missed-call-based initiative to become 'Shiv Vriksh Mitra' — or 'Shiv Tree Friends' — in a renewed push for grassroots afforestation.

Context

Chouhan shared the act on social media, writing: 'Pratidин paudharopan ke sankalp ke kram mein aaj Nai Dilli mein paudha ropa' — 'In continuation of my resolve to plant a sapling every day, I planted one today in New Delhi.' He added that trees give both fruit and life, and called on citizens to collectively plant as many saplings as possible to, in his words, 'increase the earth's breath.'

The post carried the hashtag #OnePlantADay and invited people to give a missed call to 8929629475 to register as a Shiv Vriksh Mitra. Two photographs accompanied the post, showing the minister engaged in the planting act.

Policy Backdrop

India's tradition of state-led afforestation drives dates to 1950, when Van Mahotsav — the annual tree-planting festival — was launched by K. M. Munshi to build public awareness around forest cover. Successive governments have since institutionalised such efforts: the National Mission for a Green India, approved in 2014 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, set formal targets for expanding and restoring forest cover as part of India's climate commitments.

Indian ministers performing symbolic tree plantings is a well-established practice, intended to model public participation and draw attention to national carbon-sequestration goals. Chouhan's daily-planting pledge follows this tradition while adding a participatory, technology-light layer through the missed-call mechanism.

Stakeholders and Impact

The initiative is aimed at urban citizens and environmental volunteers who can register support with a single missed call — a format designed to reach users on basic mobile phones without data access. If the drive gains traction, it could feed into existing urban greening programmes such as the Nagar Van Yojana, which promotes the creation of urban forests across Indian cities.

As a former four-term Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan has a record of mobilising large-scale public campaigns in that state. His current ministerial portfolio — covering agriculture, farmers' welfare, and rural development — gives the call a natural constituency among farming communities, for whom tree cover has direct implications for soil health and microclimate stability.

What's Next

The monsoon season, which typically arrives in central and northern India between June and July, represents the primary planting window when soil conditions favour sapling survival. Any broader rollout of the Shiv Vriksh Mitra network would most effectively align with this window to maximise impact.

Whether the missed-call initiative is formally integrated with existing government afforestation schemes or remains a personal public-engagement campaign by the minister will determine its scale and longevity. Citizens and environmental groups will be watching whether the symbolic daily act translates into a measurable, institutionally backed planting programme ahead of India's next climate reporting cycle.