Rama Krishna Sangem
BRS Rajya Sabha MP J Santosh Kumar has highlighted the story of Piplantri, a tiny village in Rajasthan, which combined greenery and gender justice. We all know that Rajasthan is a state in our country where female ration is very poor and girl child is a stigma. Such a village within three decades of time, rose to fame today, thanks to not just ending discrimination against girl child, but also spreading greenery.
Santosh also founder of Green India Challenge, a nationwide campaign to encourage sapling of trees,on October 14, Saturday, posted on X a video clip of Piplantri – depicting its journey towards gender empowerment. The villagers plant 111 trees on every birth of a girl child in their community. This wonderful tradition has led to planting of around 3 lakh trees over the three decades.
“Hats off to the incredible Shri #ShyamSunderPaliwal of #Piplantri who for 30 years has been planting 111 saplings for every precious girl child born in this village. His dedication to boht the environment and the empowerment of girlds is truely remarkable,” said Santosh on X.
Today, this tiny village of southern Rajasthan’s Rajsmand district is known for its green cover and social transformation. The one who started this practice is ts late Sarpanch Shyam Sunder Piliwal in early 1990s. He commenced this rite of planting 111 saplings on birth of every girl child in memory of his beloved daughter Kiran who died a few years ago.
And what? Gradually this village started attracting attention of all over India and abroad. Many started helping the villagers and they started planting thousands of other saplings too- from fruit bearing ones to commerically relevant ones. As a result, the village economy of Piplantri has changed – into a booming livelihood for its locals. Thousands of Aloe Vera plants have come as mainstay of the village economy as processing units have come up.
We must appreciate Santosh for highlighting such green stories as part of his weekly greenery and nature posts on X. Like PM Modi’s Man Ki Baath, Santosh too is mentioning about successful or inspiring stories of ordinary people who take lead in spreading the cause of greenery. This goes a long way in motivating others too. Of course, for Piplantri, there are some NGOs like Astral Foundation, that stood behind them. Others will get other support too.
Blue and Grey bird lends festive mood
Santosh this Sunday, October 15, posted pics of a Blue and Grey bird of medium size on X. These four pics capture the mood of onset of Bathumakka and Navaratri festivities around. These pics posted as part of his #WeedklyDoseof Photography backdrop thick greenery. While three photos are of side view,one is taken from the bottom angle. Posted by morning, they got 7,400 views, 200 plus likes by evening.
