Shivraj Plants Trees Daily at Bhopal Smart City Park
Synopsis
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined citizens at Bhopal's Smart City Park on 11 November 2026 to plant a sapling under his daily #OnePlantADay pledge, inviting Indians to become 'Vriksha Mitras' via a missed call or web portal.
Key Takeaways
Shivraj Singh Chouhan planted a sapling at Smart City Park, Bhopal on 11 November 2026 as part of a daily tree-planting commitment.
Citizens can join the drive by calling 8929629475 (missed call) or visiting his campaign portal to enrol as a 'Vriksha Mitra' .
The campaign runs under the hashtag #OnePlantADay , emphasising daily personal action over periodic mass events.
India's afforestation tradition dates to the Van Mahotsav festival launched in 1950 , with successive governments using similar public-participation models.
The drive is linked to the broader pattern of Indian ministers leading personal planting initiatives to amplify the National Mission for a Green India .
One plant, every single day — that is the quiet but deliberate commitment Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is turning into a public movement. On Wednesday, 11 November 2026, he joined environmental enthusiasts at Smart City Park, Bhopal, to plant a sapling as part of his ongoing daily tree-planting pledge.
Chouhan shared the moment on X, writing in Hindi: 'प्रतिदिन पौधरोपण के संकल्प के क्रम में आज भोपाल स्थित स्मार्ट सिटी पार्क में पर्यावरण प्रेमियों के साथ पौधा रोपा' — ('Continuing the resolve of daily tree-planting, today I planted a sapling with nature lovers at Smart City Park, Bhopal'). He also invited citizens to join by visiting his campaign portal or giving a missed call to 8929629475 to become a 'Vriksha Mitra' (Tree Friend), hashtagging the drive #OnePlantADay.
A personal pledge scaled into a citizen campaign
The initiative is structured around low-barrier public participation: a missed call is all it takes to enlist. The model mirrors grassroots mobilisation playbooks used in India's past welfare and Jan Andolan campaigns, where a single phone action signals intent and loops a citizen into a larger network. By pairing that with a dedicated web portal, the drive is designed to aggregate visible numbers — a key metric when the goal is influencing the perception of collective environmental action.
Bhopal's Smart City Park and India's afforestation tradition
The choice of Bhopal's Smart City Park as the venue ties the drive to urban greening — a pressure point in rapidly expanding Indian cities where tree cover often loses ground to infrastructure. India's afforestation culture has deep institutional roots: Van Mahotsav, the nation's annual tree-planting festival, was launched as far back as 1950 to stoke public participation in increasing green cover. Ministers and chief ministers leading personal planting drives have since become a recurring feature under programmes such as the National Mission for a Green India, lending political visibility to what are otherwise bureaucratic afforestation targets.
What distinguishes Chouhan's framing here is the word 'प्रतिदिन' — daily. It is a consistency claim, not a one-off photo opportunity. Whether that rhythm sustains and how many 'Vriksha Mitras' it ultimately recruits will determine whether the campaign leaves a measurable footprint beyond the hashtag.
Point of View
The campaign lowers participation costs to near zero, a tactic that has historically inflated enrolment numbers in Indian citizen drives. The real policy question is whether 'Vriksha Mitra' signups translate into verified plantings and survival rates, or remain a mobilisation metric. For a minister whose core portfolio is agriculture and rural development, sustained green-cover advocacy also quietly reinforces the soil-health and climate-resilience narrative central to the NDA government's farm agenda.
NationPress
11 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's #OnePlantADay campaign?
#OnePlantADay is a personal daily tree-planting initiative led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, where he plants at least one sapling every day and invites citizens to join as 'Vriksha Mitras' through a missed call or his web portal.
How can I become a Vriksha Mitra under Shivraj's tree campaign?
Give a missed call to 8929629475 or visit the campaign link at shivrajsinghchouhan.co.in/engage/plant-with-shivraj to register as a 'Vriksha Mitra' and join the daily planting drive.
Where did Shivraj Singh Chouhan plant a tree on 11 November 2026?
He planted a sapling at Smart City Park in Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh, alongside environmental enthusiasts, as part of his daily tree-planting commitment.
What is Van Mahotsav and how does it relate to this campaign?
Van Mahotsav is India's annual tree-planting festival launched in 1950 to promote widespread afforestation. Chouhan's daily drive draws from the same tradition of using political leadership to encourage mass public participation in greening initiatives.
What is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's current role in the central government?
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development. He is also a senior BJP leader and former four-term Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
