Vriksh Mitra–Gram Mitra Abhiyan 2016–17 with IRCON

On 26 December 2016 the Foundation signed an MoU with IRCON International Limited, the railway construction company, for 1 lakh fruit saplings under IRCON's CSR programme — the campaign's first corporate partnership.

Bareilly: peach trees

Peach suits the soil of Bareilly district, so 50,000 peach saplings were delivered on 26, 28 and 29 January 2017 and distributed to 7,731 families in 84 villages.

Haryana: guava, ber, lemon, pomegranate and amla

In February 2017, 50,000 saplings suited to the drier soil reached families in more than 100 villages of Hisar, Jind and Sonipat districts, through distribution teams formed with local volunteers. In Jind district alone, 1,692 households in 18 villages planted 19,513 trees.

How it ran

Villages were chosen where Foundation volunteers were active and villagers had asked for trees. Families were identified with the panchayat, told the delivery date in advance and asked to dig their pits three days before the saplings arrived. On 29 March 2017 a three-member team from IRCON's CSR division visited villages in Bareilly to see the plants.