Maiti Andolan

Maiti Andolan

Maiti Andolan is a major environmental movement launched in the state of Uttarakhand. Shri Kalyan Singh Rawat ji is considered to be the father of Maiti movement.

Many movements related to environmental protection are already going on in the state of Uttarakhand, such as Chipko Andolan. Similarly, there was another movement in Uttarakhand, whose name is ‘Maiti Andolan’. Today which is famous as a social custom in the whole of Garhwal. In which the general public actively participates. This movement has set a unique example for environmental protection. Which today has left its mark not only in Garhwal but also in the whole world.

Meaning of Maiti

In the state of Uttarakhand, the word ‘Mait’ means ‘Mother’s house’, and the word ‘Maiti’ means ‘maternal’. The meaning of Meiti movement is that, when any girl is getting married, after taking rounds, she plants a tree in the midst of Vedic chants and makes it her own Meiti. Whose care is taken care of by his mati i.e. maternal like a member of his family (daughter or sister).

Inspiration of Movement

The father of Maiti movement, Shri Kalyan Singh Rawat ji says that he got the inspiration of this movement from the Chipko movement. When government tree plantation campaigns were failing. Trees were planted five-five times at the same place, but the result would have been zero. Despite planting trees so many times, the trees were not visible. In view of these circumstances, it came to mind that unless we make people emotionally active, programs like tree plantation cannot be successful. When people are emotionally attached to the plantation, there will be no need to put up a wall or fence after planting the tree. People themselves will protect him. This is how Maiti started.

Start of Movement

This environmental movement was started in 1994 by ‘Shri Kalyan Singh Rawat ji’, biology lecturer of Gwaldam Government Inter College, Chamoli. Under this movement, Rawat ji first inspired the school children, then gradually did the work of motivating the people of the whole village. Due to the many innovative experiments of Rawat ji and social work among the poor, handicapped, women and students, Maiti made the organization’s identity among all classes. Under this, if a girl is married in a village of Garhwal, then at the time of farewell, the bride and groom are given a fruitful plant by taking the bride and groom to a certain place in the village. The groom plants this plant by Vedic mantras and the bride irrigates it with water, then the new couple is blessed by a brahmin. The groom also gives money to the Maiti sisters as per his wish. Which is used in environmental reform work and in the education of poor children of the society.

Result of the Movement

Today Maiti is famous not only as a movement, but as an emotional attachment to the people in the whole of Garhwal. This is the reason, that whenever there is a wedding ceremony in Garhwal, the wedding card also mentions the Maiti program. Maiti sisters not only raised consciousness against superstition but also fought a long struggle along with protecting wildlife, besides planting trees for environmental protection all over Uttarakhand. Chourinkhal fought against cattle slaughter during the Bunkhal fair in Pauri Garhwal. The result of the struggle has been that while four hundred buffaloes were sacrificed every year in this fair, their number has now reduced to less than forty.
Maiti organization organized a Mahayatra of eight hundred kilometers to inculcate love for wildlife all over Uttarakhand and made people aware about the protection of wild animals.

Now this movement has taken its roots in many states of the country including Uttarakhand. In some of these states, the saga of this movement has been given a place in the textbooks there too. After reading the news of Maiti movement in Canada, former Prime Minister Flora Donald came to meet Kalyan Singh Rawat, the promoter of the movement. She was so impressed with the Meitei tradition that she started promoting it in Canada. Now there too trees are being planted on the occasion of marriage. Influenced by the Maiti tradition, trees have been planted on the occasion of marriage in Canada, America, Austria, Norway, China, Thailand and Nepal as well.

 

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