Shivraj Singh Chouhan plants sapling on World Nature Conservation Day
Synopsis
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan planted a sapling in New Delhi on World Nature Conservation Day, continuing his #OnePlantADay pledge and urging citizens to register as 'Vriksh Mitra' tree friends via a missed call campaign.
Key Takeaways
Shivraj Singh Chouhan planted a sapling in New Delhi on World Nature Conservation Day, 28 July .
The act is part of his ongoing #OnePlantADay personal pledge to plant one tree daily.
Citizens can join the campaign as a 'Vriksh Mitra' (Tree Friend) by giving a missed call to 8929629475 .
Chouhan described nature conservation as not just a responsibility but a duty ( kartavya ).
The campaign structure — a missed call entry point and a dedicated sign-up link — aims to convert symbolic participation into a countable citizen database.
The drive aligns with India's broader afforestation goals and the decades-old Van Mahotsav tradition dating to 1950 .
On World Nature Conservation Day, 28 July, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stepped into the soil of New Delhi to plant a sapling — carrying forward his personal pledge to plant one tree every single day. The act was both ritual and rallying cry, wrapped in a call to every Indian to join what he is building into a mass afforestation movement.
Posting on X in Hindi, Chouhan framed the gesture in moral terms: 'Prakriti ki seva hamara dayitva hi nahin, kartavya bhi hai' — 'Serving nature is not merely our responsibility; it is our duty.' He invited citizens to register as a 'Vriksh Mitra' (Tree Friend) either through a dedicated campaign link or by giving a missed call to 8929629475, threading civic participation into what might otherwise be a solitary symbolic act.
The #OnePlantADay pledge behind the post
Chouhan has anchored his environmental outreach around the #OnePlantADay commitment — a daily, personal discipline he has made public to nudge followers into parallel action. The campaign mirrors the spirit of India's Van Mahotsav tradition, the afforestation festival launched in 1950 that has long used environmental observance days as a springboard for mass plantation drives. Chouhan is essentially digitising that old impulse: a missed call converts a passive observer into a named participant.
Where citizen campaigns meet national forest targets
Indian ministers marking environmental days with tree-planting events is a familiar ritual — but the 'Vriksh Mitra' mobilisation structure gives this one a data layer. Citizen sign-ups create a countable base of participants, a metric that can feed into broader national afforestation reporting. India has committed under its climate goals to expanding forest and tree cover significantly, and bottom-up public drives, however symbolic in isolation, contribute to the aggregate numbers governments report internationally.
For Chouhan — a politician whose four terms as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister built a reputation around mass-outreach schemes — the format is characteristic: a simple action (plant a tree), a simple entry point (one missed call), and a brand name ('Vriksh Mitra') that gives participants an identity. The question now is how many trees the sign-up list eventually translates into.
Point of View
The format is deliberate. Whether the sign-up numbers translate into verifiable tree cover will determine if this is genuine environmental leverage or durable optics. Either way, it positions Chouhan as the Agriculture Ministry's public face on climate-adjacent issues ahead of any major afforestation policy announcements.
NationPress
28 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is World Nature Conservation Day and when is it observed?
World Nature Conservation Day is observed every year on 28 July to raise global awareness about protecting natural resources and biodiversity.
What is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 'Vriksh Mitra' campaign?
'Vriksh Mitra' means Tree Friend. It is a citizen participation campaign launched by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that allows people to register their commitment to plant trees by giving a missed call to 8929629475 .
What is the #OnePlantADay initiative by Shivraj Chouhan?
#OnePlantADay is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's personal pledge to plant at least one tree every day and to encourage the public to do the same as part of a broader afforestation drive.
What is Van Mahotsav and how does it relate to tree plantation campaigns in India?
Van Mahotsav is India's annual afforestation festival, initiated in 1950 , which has long encouraged public tree-planting drives around environmental observance days — a tradition that campaigns like Chouhan's Vriksh Mitra build upon.
How can I join Shivraj Chouhan's tree plantation campaign?
You can join by giving a missed call to 8929629475 to register as a 'Vriksh Mitra', or by clicking the sign-up link shared by Chouhan on his official social media.
