Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continued his daily tree-plantation pledge on Saturday, 30 May 2026, planting saplings at Smart City Park in Bhopal alongside family members and staff as part of his ongoing #OnePlantADay campaign.

Context

Chouhan shared the plantation activity on X, noting he was joined by bhai-bahanon aur bhanje-bhaanjiyon (brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces) during the visit. His staff associate Puru Sharma also planted a sapling to mark his birthday, an act Chouhan publicly praised as sarahniya karya — 'a commendable deed' — and extended birthday greetings.

The post closes with a call to action: citizens can dial 8929629475 with a missed call to enrol as a 'Shiv Vriksh Mitra' (Shiv Tree Friend), joining a citizen volunteer network around the plantation drive.

Policy Backdrop

The Smart City Park in Bhopal was developed under India's Smart Cities Mission, making it a symbolic venue for an urban greening initiative. India's National Afforestation Programme, launched in 2000, laid the institutional foundation for large-scale tree planting and forest restoration efforts across states.

During Chouhan's four terms as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the state ran annual multi-crore tree plantation drives from 2015 onward, establishing a pattern of government-led mass afforestation. These efforts sit within India's broader commitments under the Paris Agreement to increase forest and tree cover, and complement central programmes such as the Green India Mission.

Stakeholders and Impact

The campaign targets urban residents and environmental volunteers who can participate through the missed-call enrolment mechanism. By framing the initiative as a personal daily pledge rather than a formal scheme, Chouhan positions it as a citizen-led movement that supplements official afforestation targets.

Normalising plantation on personal occasions — birthdays, anniversaries — is a recurring public-awareness tactic employed by leaders across political parties in India, aimed at embedding environmental behaviour into everyday civic life.

What's Next

The scale of enrolment through the 8929629475 missed-call line will be a key indicator of the campaign's reach. Observers will also watch whether the 'Shiv Vriksh Mitra' volunteer network is formally linked to the Green India Mission or integrated into upcoming state forest department budgets in Madhya Pradesh.

As India approaches its next cycle of forest-cover assessments, citizen-led drives endorsed by senior Union ministers carry both symbolic and institutional weight in demonstrating grassroots climate action.