On a humid July morning in Kanpur, the school garden bustles with activity. Children press damp soil gently around young saplings, their hands muddy but enthusiastic. A group of Class 4 students take turns carrying steel buckets to water the plants. One student even shields a small plant with his body as older boys race past during recess. Beneath the rising sun, this is more than just a plantation drive — it’s a lesson in care and responsibility.
“When I saw it growing, I felt very happy,” says Prem Kumar, a Class 5 student, recalling the day he planted a guava tree. From watering the plants to clearing dry leaves around the garden, Prem explains how he and his classmates have become more aware of nature.
“We have understood the importance of teamwork and sharing responsibilities at a young age,” he adds.
For these children, trees are no longer distant chapters in environmental science textbooks. They are companions — growing, changing, and responding to care. This shift from instruction to emotional connection lies at the heart of the Faldaar Campaign, a flagship initiative launched in 2023 by the Revamp India Foundation under the leadership of Vaibhav Rathore.
Where the idea took root
Vaibhav, a 28-year-old research scholar pursuing a PhD in social work at Kanpur University, academically explores how social entrepreneurship can address urban migration. But his journey into social change started long before his current studies.
“I founded Revamp India Foundation in 2023. Initially, it was an initiative where we worked on waste segregation in Kanpur, which was a major problem,” he says.
Vaibhav Rathore started the Faldaar initiative to improve tree survival through student participation.
After gathering support from 10,000–15,000 people through a petition on Change.org, Vaibhav recognised a gap. While many organisations were tackling waste management, he aspired to create a solution that combined sustainability with active community participation.
This realisation led to the official launch of the Revamp India Foundation and the birth of the Faldaar initiative. The initiative is not just about planting fruit-bearing trees in government schools but ensuring these trees thrive and become part of the children’s learning experience.
Fruit trees such as mango, guava, amla and jamun were chosen deliberately. They provide nutrition, attract birds, enhance biodiversity, and transform barren school grounds into shaded, welcoming spaces. In some schools, the fruits are now shared during mid-day meals or taken home, quietly strengthening children’s nutrition.
Yet early plantation drives revealed a difficult truth.
“While working on plantation drives across districts in Uttar Pradesh, we observed a recurring issue — a high mortality rate of saplings due to lack of post-plantation care, community ownership and awareness,” he says. “Trees were being planted, but not nurtured.”
“I believe that if you are helping someone, it should not happen like you did it one time. We should do something perpetual. After doing it, its impact should last longer,” Vaibhav explains.
The breakthrough came with a simple insight: people protect what they feel connected to.
“There are stories we still remember from childhood. So I thought, why not tell children a story about why trees are important — and then connect them emotionally to that tree?”
Naming, belonging, and surviving
Under this model — largely implemented during the monsoon months of July and August — each sapling is given a name by the children, often in honour of their teachers. Some are named after current educators, while others pay tribute to retired teachers respected in the community. The moment a tree receives a name, it gains an identity — and with it, a sense of ownership.
“We divided the children into groups and told them that this tree is in the name of your teacher. For one year, you have to take care of that tree,” Vaibhav says.
Each tree is named after a teacher, creating a personal bond between students and the saplings they nurture.
The results have been measurable. “When we included the storytelling and the active participation of children, six to seven trees out of 10 survived,” shares Vaibhav.
Recently, of the nearly 10,000 trees planted across Kanpur, Prayagraj and Farrukhabad, about 7 to 8 out of every 10 are surviving. The improvement came after we introduced a sense of emotional ownership, as children began nurturing and protecting the saplings more diligently.
Today, Faldaar partners with 50–60 government schools in each district, supported by a dedicated team of 25–30 volunteers, including college interns. The team conducts storytelling sessions, organises group activities, and actively participates in plantation drives during the monsoon season. Each school visit lasts several hours and is followed by evening review meetings to plan improvements.
“I make sure that the senior leadership of our team digs the first pit,” Vaibhav says. “So that volunteers don’t feel that the work is small.”
Targeting government schools was intentional. As a non-profit organisation that has consistently faced funding constraints — and with no similar government-led projects in place — they felt government schools were the right starting point.
During these visits, Vaibhav says another misconception was also challenged: the belief that government schools lack quality. Instead, he found well-educated teaching faculty and students who are genuinely talented, eager to learn, and determined to build a better future.
When a tree becomes ‘My plant’
At PM Shri Primary School in Mahendra Nagar, Kanpur, Faldaar has been active for three years, engaging around 80 students from Classes 2 to 5.
“The best thing was the bond that Revamp India created with our kids, which not only increases the number of fruit plants, but more importantly, teamwork started among the children,” says Ms Khursheeda Parveen.
Each day now begins a little earlier. Before assembly, children gather in groups of five to water, clean, and inspect “their” trees.
“When the children planted those plants themselves, they continuously took care of them,” she says. “When the fruits started coming, the children were happier than me because it was the result of their hard work.”
Fruit trees like guava, mango, jamun and amla now grow across school campuses in Uttar Pradesh.
One of the guava trees bears her name — a gesture that fills her not just with happiness, but with great pride. To see such young children nurture and fiercely protect a plant dedicated to her is a powerful reminder of the bond they have built, not only with nature but with the people who guide them.
She recalls an incident that revealed the depth of attachment. During ground work, a tractor accidentally damaged a sapling.
“That child was in tears — ‘Ma’am, my plant.’ Seeing that child, all the children had tears in their eyes. They all ran to check their plants. That emotional connection which the initiative has built for them,” she adds.
Care continues even during holidays, with children coordinating watering schedules with school staff. Some now plant trees on their birthdays or gift saplings on special occasions. A few have even planted trees at home in their parents’ names.
For Isha, a Class 4 student, the guava tree she planted carries the name of her favourite teacher.
“We planted a guava tree, and it gave us fruits along with shade,” she says. “We divided the responsibilities — cleaning, watering the plants.”
“At home, I planted a lemon plant in the name of my mother. I love taking care of it and I am so excited to see the lemons,” she adds.
What began as a plantation drive is now hands-on learning, as students nurture trees that bring shade, fruit, and a deeper bond with nature.
Hitendra, also in Class 4, named his tree after his maths teacher. “Faldaar project is special because of trees, importance and awareness about nature and the planet,” he says. “We learned responsibility and teamwork.”
These lessons are no longer abstract. Science comes alive under leafy canopies, and language classes blossom as children compose poems for trees. Observation exercises now include tracking growth cycles. What started simply as a plantation drive has blossomed into hands-on, experiential learning.
Growing a nation through care
For Vaibhav, Faldaar reflects the larger vision behind Revamp India.
“Revamp India means reconstruction of India,” he says. “I dream of an India where every citizen does their duty responsibly and loves the country.”
Through Faldaar, Vaibhav hopes to inspire young students to take responsibility for nature and carry that sense of duty into the future.
“I will start with kids, then move to teenagers. That whole army of young people will take the message forward — the country does everything for you; you have to do something for the country.”
Planting trees is just one way to express this responsibility. It could also mean educating, sharing skills, or creating opportunities. Regardless of the method, the principle is clear: meaningful change stems from consistent and committed care.
In schoolyards across Kanpur, Prayagraj and Farrukhabad, that care is already visible — in saplings that have survived the seasons, in fruit shared among classmates, and in children who rush to protect a plant as instinctively as they would a friend.
Faldaar’s achievement is not only a 75 per cent survival rate of trees. It is a generation learning that when care is rooted in emotion, it grows — and keeps growing.
All images courtesy Vaibhav Singh Rathore
