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Historical and Geographical Overview

The village of Piplantri in Rajasthan has successfully implemented a tradition of eco-feminism since 2005. When a girl is born, the village plants 111 trees in her name and takes responsibility for their care as she grows. Over a quarter million trees have been planted. A fixed deposit is also created for each girl's education. This initiative was started by former village leader Shyam Sundar Paliwal after his daughter passed away. Now the village protects the trees with aloe vera plants, uses aloe vera for income, and has banned activities that harm the environment. Piplantri aims to be self-reliant while saving girls, resources, and engaging in green employment.

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40 views

Historical and Geographical Overview

The village of Piplantri in Rajasthan has successfully implemented a tradition of eco-feminism since 2005. When a girl is born, the village plants 111 trees in her name and takes responsibility for their care as she grows. Over a quarter million trees have been planted. A fixed deposit is also created for each girl's education. This initiative was started by former village leader Shyam Sundar Paliwal after his daughter passed away. Now the village protects the trees with aloe vera plants, uses aloe vera for income, and has banned activities that harm the environment. Piplantri aims to be self-reliant while saving girls, resources, and engaging in green employment.

Uploaded by

JAPLEEN KAUR 221175
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

Historical and Geographical Overview


In an environment where each morning newspaper is filled with incidents of girls being
raped, tormented, molested, killed or treated like an object, one small village in the
southern part of the Rajsamand district in Rajasthan is harmoniously practicing its
homegrown tradition of eco-feminism and has achieved inspiring results. Since 2005, the
village panchayat of Piplantri has been saving the girl child from infanticide while
simultaneously expanding the green cover in and surrounding the village. The villagers of
Piplantri plant 111 trees on the birth of every girl child and the collective efforts of the
community ensure the nourishment and care of these trees as the girl grows up. The
villagers have successfully planted more than a quarter-million trees since the beginning of
this tradition. A wide variety of trees including neem, amla, mango, and sheesham have
been planted on the village’s grazing lands. The former sarpanch of Piplantri, Shri Shyam
Sundar Paliwal planted the first-ever tree of this initiative in the memory of his daughter
Kiran, who passed away due to dehydration. Paliwal says that most of the villagers were
reluctant to accept a girl child which was the prime reason why he framed this practice.
These families were identified by the village committee (comprising of the school principal,
the Anganwadi and panchayat members) in order to spread awareness about the newly
adopted practice. A fixed deposit of Rs. 31,000 is created in the name of the girl child with a
maturity period of 20 years and includes Rs. 21,000 from the villagers and Rs. 10,000 from
the father of the girl.
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In order to make the entire practice secure for the girl, the parents are made to sign an
affidavit which states that the parents would ensure that the girl attends school regularly,
they would take care of the trees planted in her name and would not marry her off before 18
years. Along with this, villagers also plant 11 trees on the death of a family member.

However, Piplantri did not stop at just the planting of trees and greening their environment.
The residents have also planted a significant number of aloe vera plants to protect the trees
from termites. Today, these aloe vera plants form a major source of income for most of the
residents. The advantages of Aloe Vera were realized, following which it was processed and
marketed in a variety of ways. Women were trained by experts which led to the production
and sale of several aloe vera products like pickle, gel, juice, etc. The Piplantri panchayat now
has its own website for the sale of these products and for inspiring the masses about the
Piplantri village model. A complete ban on alcohol, cutting of trees and open grazing of
animals was enforced in the village. It has been claimed by the villagers that no police case
has been registered for the past 7-8 years.

Piplantri aims to be a self-reliant and self-sufficient village. The vision of Shri Shyam Sundar
Paliwal has helped the village grow and inspire multiple local level governments in taking
up the Piplantri model. In the words of Paliwal, Piplantri aims at saving the girl child, water,
trees, grazing lands, and wildlife while engaging the villagers in environment centric
employment.

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