Piplantri a village located in

Rajsamand district Rajsamand District is a district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. The city of Rajsamand is the district headquarters. The district was constituted on 10 April 1991 from Udaipur district by carving out 7 tehsils - Bhim, Deogarh, Am ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

State, India.

Notability

The villagers of Piplantri plant 111 trees every time a girl child is born and the community ensures these trees survive, attaining fruition as the girls grow up. India has a huge deficit of girls because society is obsessed with the male child and girls are considered financial burdens because of the dowry practices. Over the years, people here have managed to plant over 300,000 trees on the village's grazing commons. Trees planted include

neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, margosa, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of the two species in the genus '' Azadirachta''. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and to parts of S ...

sheesham ''Dalbergia sissoo'', known commonly as North Indian rosewood or shisham, is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. ''D. sissoo'' is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves a ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

and amla. To ensure financial security, after the birth of a girl, the villagers contribute Rs 21,000 collectively and take Rs 10,000 from the parents and put it in a fixed deposit bank account, which can be used only after she turns 18. To make sure that the girl child receives a proper education, the villagers make the parents sign a legal contract. Shyam Sunder Paliwal, the former

sarpanch A sarpanch, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...

, started this initiative in memory of his daughter Kiran, who passed away in 2006. The initiative that began in 2006 has turned Piplantri village into an oasis. The birth of a girl is now welcomed. The planting of trees has led to a higher groundwater level and richer wildlife. The initiative has also helped the town’s economy. To keep termites away from the trees, many of which bear fruit, the village has planted more than 2.5 million

Aloe vera ''Aloe vera'' () is a succulent plant species of the genus ''Aloe''. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial plant, perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but ...

plants around them. Gradually, the villagers realized that Aloe vera could be processed and marketed in a variety of ways. The community now produces and markets aloe-based products like juice and gel, among other things.

References

{{reflist, 2 Villages in Rajsamand district Environment and society Save the Children Ecofeminism Eco-socialism