President Ram Nath Kovind conferred eminent personalities with the Padma Awards. Social Activist Shyam Sunder Paliwal has also been awarded the prestigious Padma Shri.

President Kovindpresents Padma Shri to Shri Shyam Sunder Paliwal for Social Work. Popularly known as ‘Father of Eco-Feminism’, he is the creator of Piplantri Model Village, where 111 trees are planted on the birth of every girl child. pic.twitter.com/5ODBLuEqKT

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 9, 2021

Known as father of eco feminism, Shyam Sundar Paliwal has dedicated his life planting trees and encouraging the wellbeing of girl child.

When Paliwal lost his daughter in 2006, he began a campaign named ‘Kiran Nidhi Yojana’ by planting 111 trees for every girl child born in his village along with a financial scheme. The panchayat opens a fixed bank deposit account in the name of the new-born as part of the campaign. The parents of the girls are supposed to nurture the saplings and also sign an affidavit saying they would not marry off their daughters before 18 or practising female foeticide.

His initiative garnered results and sex ratio in his village improved drastically. Soon his model started followed up several villages.

The Piplantri village has, as a result, survived Rajasthan’s chronic drought and water scarcity thanks to the campaign. The campaign has also involved building check dams on the pastures on nearby hills to recharge the groundwater level under Paliwal leadership and turned Rajsamand into an oasis full of trees.