Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam: How Companies, Schools and RWAs Can Take Part

Few environmental campaigns in India have reached as many people as Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam. It turned tree planting into a personal gesture: planting a tree for your mother. For companies, schools and housing societies, it offers a ready-made theme for plantation drives. The challenge is making sure the trees survive long after the photograph.

What the campaign is

• Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Environment Day, 5 June 2024.
• Asks every citizen to plant a tree in honour of their mother, and to look after it.
• The first phase aimed for 80 crore saplings by September 2024; the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change reported the target met ahead of schedule.
• Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0 was launched on World Environment Day 2025, with a strong focus on schools and students.
• The campaign is linked to Mission LiFE, India's movement for environment-friendly lifestyles. Under the Nagar Van Yojana, some urban forests now include Matri Vans planted under the campaign.

How companies can take part

• Employee drives: invite employees to plant a tree for their mothers, at a partner site or in their own city.
• Mother's Day and family days: a natural moment for the campaign, inside and outside the office.
• Gifting: a tree planted in a mother's name, with a certificate and location, as a gift for employees or customers.
• CSR: larger drives with proper sites, species and maintenance can be structured as CSR projects (see our CSR tree plantation compliance checklist).

How schools and RWAs can take part

• Schools: eco clubs can run planting days where each student plants and adopts a tree, and measures its growth over the year.
• Housing societies (RWAs): plant along boundaries, parks and roads, with residents adopting trees in their mothers' names.
• Colleges: a campus "Matri Van" block, cared for by successive batches.

Making the trees last

The campaign's spirit is in the word "care". A sapling planted in June needs water through its first dry season and protection from animals and trampling. A drive that lasts:

• picks native species suited to the site;
• plants at the start of the monsoon;
• arranges watering and protection for at least the first year;
• records each tree's location and checks survival after the first summer.

Plant a tree for your mother

If you do not have space to plant, you can have a tree planted and looked after in your mother's name, with a certificate and its location. Gift a tree, plan an employee plantation drive, or read our Mother's Day trees.

Sources: PIB: Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam progress · DD News: Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0 launch · MoEFCC. Last updated: October 2026. Rules change; check the latest notification before you rely on any detail.

Further reading: Nagar Van Yojana: How Companies Can Partner on Urban Forests · Mission LiFE and the Green India Mission: Where Company Plantations Fit