Rekha Gupta plants sindoor sapling at Govt school

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday planted a ‘sindoor’ sapling at a government school in her Shalimar Bagh constituency as part of a government campaign on planting trees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had planted a ‘sindoor’ sapling, presented to him by a group of women who had ‹shown remarkable courage during the 1971 war, at his residence on World Environment Day on June 5. The gesture was seen as a nod to the recent Operation Sindoor.

Gupta said, “Our prime minister had planted a ‘sindoor’ sapling. I also wanted to do the same. It is as if God heard my prayers. Today morning during a public hearing, some people gifted me a ‘sindoor’ sapling. I planted it to kickstart the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam Campaign 2.0,” she said.

The chief minister thanked Modi and the armed forces for Operation Sindoor. “Our armed forces and Modiji kept the dignity of our sisters. I would like to thank them for launching this operation,” she added.

India named its military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack Operation Sindoor as the terrorists had gunned down 26 civilians, all men and mostly tourists, and the devastated wives of several of the victims became the face of the tragedy. Gupta said the previous AAP government did not plant trees as part of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign in Delhi. “The campaign is aimed at protecting our environment. We are launching this campaign,” she added.

Under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, people plant trees in the name of their mothers -- a symbolic gesture to honour the role of mothers in nurturing life and address the pressing need for environmental preservation. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta emphasised the importance of the campaign and criticised the inaction of the previous Delhi administration.

The symbolic act of planting trees under this initiative is not just an environmental measure but also a tribute to mothers and Mother Earth. It reflects the government’s renewed commitment to sustainability and ecological preservation.

Earlier, on World Environment Day (5th June), the campaign ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0’ was officially launched as the second phase of a movement initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The campaign encourages every citizen to plant a tree in the name of their mother or Mother Earth. This year, the initiative will run from June 5 to September 30, with an ambitious target: each school is expected to plant at least 70 saplings.

The designated areas for plantation include school campuses, nearby open lands, village panchayat-marked zones, areas near water bodies, public spaces, parks, smart city zones, city forests, green belts, and roadsides.