Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 17 : The Green India Challenge (GIC) has launched a state-wide initiative to promote the planting of Jammi (Prosopis cineraria) trees across Telangana, with the vision of ensuring the sacred tree finds a place in every village and temple.
Marking the fifth year of the campaign, GIC has already facilitated the plantation of thousands of jammi trees in villages and temples over the past four years. The latest drive was formally unveiled on the occasion of Dasara at Sri Shankara Gurukula Veda Pathashala in Shamirpet and Sri Gayatri Veda Pathashala in Keesara.
The launch saw active participation from students of the Veda Pathashalas, with the GIC team unveiling the campaign poster.
Widely revered since Vedic times, the Jammi tree holds deep cultural and spiritual significance and was declared the state tree of Telangana soon after the state's formation. However, environmentalists caution that the species faces pressures that could lead to extinction.
To counter this, Rajya Sabha MP and GIC founder Joginapally Santosh Kumar has spearheaded the "one jammi tree for every village and for every temple" initiative under the Green India Challenge. His larger efforts to expand India's green cover -- from massive sapling distribution drives to large-scale plantation programmes involving lakhs of people -- have been widely recognised and have earned him national appreciation for his commitment to environmental protection.
As Telangana prepares for Dasara Navaratri, when exchanging jammi leaves is considered a symbol of goodwill, the GIC has readied more than 10,000 jammi saplings for free distribution to villages and temples.
Vedic scholars and GIC members recalled that the jammi tree was declared Telangana's state tree by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and welcomed Santosh Kumar's vision to integrate the tree into public spaces, schools, and temples. They pledged full support to the campaign by planting and safeguarding jammi trees across the state.