Over the years, it has become a stable source of income/ livelihood for many residents. Village Piplantri has emerged as a symbol and role model of eradicating social evil, valuing girl child and promoting environment for the Rural India. Piplantri’s growing forest is now serving as an example as to how Indian villages can literally go green and improve their water management while recognising and empowering the girls and female population in the country.

1. 7. Village Piplantri, Rajasthan – known for valuing and empowering girl children
For valuing girls/females, promoting gender parity and restoring the balance in male and
female ratio, Village Piplantri offers the best example and a role model in the domain of
empowering women in rural India. Known for its love and preference for male children,
Royal state of Rajasthan is known as the state, where historically girls have been less
valued as compared to boys, leading to marginalization of the role, importance and
number of the females in the state This has led to emergence of gender based
discrimination on large scale and lowering the male /female-sex ratio in the state.
In order to overcome this social problem of gender-based discrimination and eliminating
discrimination perpetuated in the state against females, Piplantri village came out with a
novel idea/ solution of adopting a dual strategy of not only saving and empowering girl-
child but also linking it with securing and promoting environment of the village.
Accordingly, village decided to link girl child with environment, ecology, bio-diversity and
nature. This happened when a father tragically lost his young daughter and taking this is
a tragedy, father launched a mission, by involving village community and school teachers
and children, to keep her daughter memory alive. Campaign launched in the village was
to overcome the social evil of discouraging birth of girl child in the family and granting girls
right place, right position and right status in the society
Village Piplantri is known to be a role model of saving, valuing and empowering girl- child
and preserving, promoting and valuing nature at the village level. This goal was achieved
by putting in place a tradition based on a culture , that whenever a girlchild is born in the

2. village, it calls for a celebration and promoting local environment. Villagers celebrate the
occasion by planting a total of 111 trees in the honour of the newborn girl child. Trees
planted in girls name are taken care of by the villagers to ensure that they survive and
reach fruition.
To further support this cause, on the birth of a girl child, the village panchayat also
decided to open a fixed deposit of Rs 31,000; that girl child can access once she turns
18, either for her education or to help pay for her wedding to ensure the girl gets good
education/care when she grows up. In addition, parents are also made to sign a legal
affidavit; under which parents take a pledge that they will provide education to the girl
child. As trees of Piplantri have grown, this has not only changed the micro-climate of
the region and made the village full of greenery but has also led to raising its level of
groundwater besides marking a cultural shift in improving the status of women not only
in the village but also in the region/state.
The practice of planting trees in the name of female children has genesis, in the year,
2007 when 17 years old daughter of the Sarpanch of the Village, Kiran died following a
bout of dehydration. Heart-broken but eager to honour her memory, his family planted a
tree near the entrance of the village in her name. Soon, other villagers began to follow.
Now, every time a girl is born in Piplantri, villagers’ plant 111 trees – an auspicious number
for local population – to both honour the girl child and to regenerate the environment.
With approximately 60 girls born annually in a village having population of 5500; following
this tradition, Village Piplantri during last 14 years, have planted almost a 3.5 lakh trees;
from mango and gooseberry to sandalwood, neem and bamboo; spread over 1000
hectare of village common land, which was denuded by large scale mining of marble in
the surrounding hills and parching of the land in the area. Like each girl, who is nurtured
and supported, the community is also striving to help these trees grow and flourish. In
order to protect trees from the menace of pests like termites, the villagers have also
planted over 2.5 million aloe-vera plants around these trees, which are processed in terms
of extracting juice and making gels and sold in the market.
The afforestation efforts have helped in not only giving recognition to and empowering
female- children but also have boosted economy/livelihood for the villagers. Over the
years, it has become a stable source of income/ livelihood for many residents. Village
Piplantri has emerged as a symbol and role model of eradicating social evil, valuing girl
child and promoting environment for the Rural India. Piplantri’s growing forest is now
serving as an example as to how Indian villages can literally go green and improve their
water management while recognising and empowering the girls and female population
in the country.