Ankur, the government’s tree planting initiative, aims to increase the overall forest cover and prevent deforestation in the country. The initiative was launched in 2000 with the objective of planting one million trees in 100,000 acres of land in one year. This initiative is a joint project of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh, India, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

With the aim of increasing the participation rate and reducing the cost to the government, the initiative has been launched online. It has been designed to encourage people to enter online and participate in the competition.