https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

School Kids in India Can Now Go for Official Forest Walks

After launching the Panchtatva project five years ago, IRS officer Rohit Mehra has started a programme of inviting school children to man-made forests he has created in various places.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Indian Revenue Service officer Rohit Mehra, who is also known as the Green Man of India, is on a mission to make this world a greener and healthier place to live in. Despite pursuing a career in civil service, Mr. Mehra goes out of his way to also pursue his passion of promoting greenery and educating the masses about its benefits and how they can also contribute to making planet earth green.

For the past four-five years, Mr. Mehra along with his wife Geetanjali Mehra has been educating school children about environment and the ecosystem under the programme, Panchtatva. This is not an ordinary education class as it focuses on explaining the whole ecosystem to the children and then asks them to practically get involved in its betterment.

IRS officer Rohit Mehra with his wife Geetanjali Mehra

And, now, the officer has made a value addition to this programme by starting a comprehensive initiative of inviting school children for forest walks. The forests, where the children are invited, are man-made and have been developed by the officer himself. He has been creating forests for over decades and till now, he has successfully developed around 270 man-made forests all across the country.

PANCHTATVA PROGRAMME

Explaining how a human body is related to the environment, Mr. Rohit Mehra said, “We as human beings are made up of five elements – air, fire, water, space and earth. This is same for the planet as well. Through Panchtatva programme, we reach out to the students of various schools across the country and clear their fundamentals of environment in a very basic way. We explain to them how the planet earth corelates with the humans and how humans are the extension of the planet earth.”

Online lectures on Panchtatva

Under this programme, Mr. Mehra with his team visit the schools to give lectures on the Panchtatva to make students more environmentally conscious. This lecture is taken as an extra learning apart from the regular subjects they study in school. According to Mr. Mehra, the simple theory of how the ecosystem works helps students in various subjects like Biology, EVS, Geography, etc., and also gives them a sense of living a sustainable life.

PRACTICAL WORK

Apart from the theoretical part, the students also engage in practical activities, where they implement the learnings they got from the IRS officer. Preparation of seed balls, making a forest in school, and adopting five green habits are some practical activities students are engaged in after the lecture.

Green-Schooling session organised with parents and children of Ludhiana

The five green habits include – not wasting electricity, writing on both sides of a paper, not wasting water – every day habits that can be incorporated in the children’s lives. Through this, the officer is trying to create a more environment-friendly lifestyle for the kids. Mr. Mehra said, “In these past four-five years, we have taught more that 2.5 lakh students and industry people about the Panchtatva and are in the process of building a bigger team. We play on the concept of learning and then training. We further ask the students we train to train other students and people.”

Students preparing seedballs

FOREST WALKS

Apart from the Panchtatva programme, which has spread over states like Chhattisgarh, Jammu, Punjab, Delhi etc., Mr. Mehra has started a comprehensive project of inviting school children to places where he has created a man-made forest. He said, “By visiting the forest, students get a sense of trees, soil, vegetables, fruits and how a culture is formed in these forests. Once a child visits these forest practically, we believe that they become environment conscious and would take steps for its betterment in future.”

Going deep inside manmade forests

Under this project, around four to five thousand students in Punjab visited forests and had amazing experiences.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
NCST Holds Review Meeting with NHPC
NCST Holds Review Meeting with NHPC on Implementation of Safeguards for Scheduled Tribe Employees
MP CM Collector Award Niti Aayog
Sampurnata Abhiyan: Madhya Pradesh Leads NITI Aayog Campaign; Collectors from 8 Districts Win Gold
Mohan Yadav
MP CM Mohan Yadav Pushes for Sustainable, Community-Driven Rural Water Policy; Targets 100% Tap Coverage by March 2027
Ajay Bhadoo IAS
IAS Ajay Bhadoo Gets Extended Term as DGFT - What It Means & His Career Journey
THDCIL_Receives_ABMS_Certification_for_Integrity_and_Transparency
THDC India (THDCIL) Awarded ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Certification by BIS - Details Inside
Ministry of Environment
Environment Ministry Clarifies Petrol Vehicle Tender, Cites E-Vehicle Flexibility
Bokaro Steel Plant
PESB Selects Priya Ranjan to Head Bokaro Steel Plant, SAIL’s Key Production Unit
REC Limited wins ‘Best Design Thinking Award’ at 5th Distinguished NBFC (DNA) Awards
REC Limited Bags ‘Best Design Thinking Award’ at 5th Distinguished NBFC Awards
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr
Resisted Flawed Schemes, Transferred Thrice In Three Months, Found Solace In Writing
WhatsApp Image 2025-08-11 at 4.48
IAS SVR Srinivas on Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, Tough Calls, and the Real Power of IAS Officers | Video Interview
WhatsApp Image 2025-08-08 at 5.25
Dharavi Redevelopment: IAS Minds Turning 100-Year-Old Slum into a Modern City | Video Interview
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
IAS Minnu P M
“Lazy, Sleepy, Yet Determined”: Minnu P M’s Honest Take on Cracking UPSC
Minnu PM, once a clerk in Kerala Police, cleared UPSC with AIR 150 after five years of struggle. Her...
IPS Ashish Tiwari
From IIT and Investment Banking to Public Service, Meet IPS Ashish Tiwari 
Ashish Tiwari, IIT graduate and former investment banker, chose public service over global finance. As...
WhatsApp Image 2025-08-12 at 7.27
First Attempt IRS, Fourth Attempt IPS: The Relentless Pursuit of Jitendra Kumar Yadav Who Cracked UPSC 3 Times
IPS Yadav is originally from Chhattisgarh. He was first selected for the IRS through UPSC and later for...
Social Media
Masahiro Hara
From Go Board to Global Use, How QR Codes Changed the World: IRAS Officer Ananth Rupanagudi Spotlights Masahiro Hara’s Vision
IRAS officer Ananth Rupanagudi shared a video on Masahiro Hara, the inventor of QR codes, highlighting...
IFS Susanta Nanda Video
A Mother’s Duty: Tigress Watches Over Cubs Splashing in Waterhole — Heartwarming Video Shared By Retd. IFS Officer Susanta Nanda
A tender wildlife video shared by Retd. IFS officer Susanta Nanda shows a tigress keeping watch over...
Mohanmala
Kaziranga Mourns: Beloved Elephant Mohanmala Passes Away After Five Decades of Service
Kaziranga National Park mourns the loss of Mohanmala, a beloved elephant who served over 50 years as...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
NCST Holds Review Meeting with NHPC
NCST Holds Review Meeting with NHPC on Implementation of Safeguards for Scheduled Tribe Employees
MP CM Collector Award Niti Aayog
Sampurnata Abhiyan: Madhya Pradesh Leads NITI Aayog Campaign; Collectors from 8 Districts Win Gold
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Dr
WhatsApp Image 2025-08-11 at 4.48
WhatsApp Image 2025-08-08 at 5.25
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT