PIB Release: ‘Vriksh Mitra’ campaign to make tree plantation a mass movement; national structure and Hariyali Amavasya programme announced
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare announced a nationwide tree-plantation campaign built around 'Vriksh Mitra' groups, Hariyali Amavasya, and local plantation sites.
AI generated- The Ministry announced an environment protection campaign centred on tree plantation and community mobilisation at Pusa Complex, New Delhi.
- Hariyali Amavasya on 12 August was proposed as the date for a nationwide plantation drive.
- The 'Vriksh Mitra Pariwar' was proposed as a multi-level committee structure spanning national, state, district, block, and village levels.
- Panchayats and urban local bodies were identified as the local institutions that should host fixed plantation sites and monitoring arrangements.
What happened
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare announced an environment protection campaign at Pusa Complex, New Delhi, with nearly 17,000 'Vriksh Mitra' connected across the country. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the programme should turn tree plantation into a mass movement through the Environment Protection Resolve Programme and Vriksh Mitra Samvad.
The Minister proposed a nationwide plantation drive on Hariyali Amavasya on 12 August as a Tree Festival. He also urged every family to plant a tree on birthdays, wedding anniversaries, children’s birth occasions, and in memory of parents, and asked each 'Vriksh Mitra' to plant at least one tree every year and connect at least five new people to the campaign.
UPSC may ask how mass tree-plantation campaigns can be designed to ensure survival of saplings, local ownership, and convergence with panchayats, urban local bodies, and government schemes. The topic also allows questions on Mission LiFE, environmental behaviour change, and the gap between plantation targets and ecological outcomes.
