Prasiddhi Singh, changemaker and climate activist

An 8-year-old child prodigy based in Chennai, Prasiddhi Singh has been on a mission to conserve trees since she was 4. A valued student of Mahindra World School and a responsible resident of Mahindra World City, she has adopted an eco-friendly lifestyle at home and at school, and aims to inspire her friends, too.

At the young age of 4, Prasiddhi helplessly watched as a devastating cyclone hit Chennai and took down her favourite trees. She turned her grief into strength and resolved to do something about it. So, she participated in the next plantation drive at Mahindra World City and sowed seeds every day. That year, the residents planted 1 lakh trees. This inspired Prasiddhi to plant more trees. She soon founded Prasiddhi Forest Foundation in 2018, and pledged to plant 1 lakh fruit trees by 2022.

She went door to door and enthusiastically collected seeds from her neighbours to start her own community nursery. Her school started another community nursery to support her in growing trees. But she wanted more people to join her. Her belief that trees are the oldest caretakers of the Earth and silent givers fuelled her mission. So, she rallied her friends and inspired them to join her. Soon, she was recognised as the Youngest Fruit Forest Creator of India by India Book of Records, for her transformational work.

To gain further support, Prasiddhi campaigned for climate change. She digitally conducted awareness sessions at schools, colleges and corporates and created an eco-army of like-minded people. They have adopted ingenious ways to lead an eco-friendly lifestyle. They plant trees, compost waste, recycle and use natural pesticides made from neem, ash and banana skins. Prasiddhi and her growing eco-army from 12 countries, have created 15 fruit forests and planted over 16,000 trees.

For her untiring efforts, Prasiddhi was awarded the Youngest Prime Minister National Child Award in 2021, the Highest Civilian Award under 18 years, in the category of social service. Her huge eco-army and influential work also led to her being appointed as the Brand Ambassador of the Indian Government’s welfare campaign - Save Girl Child, Educate Girl Child (Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana), in Tamil Nadu.

Prasiddhi’s stance on climate action has been an inspiring take from someone her age. Apart from growing trees, she has pioneered the G3 project, where the 3 G’s stand for ‘generating oxygen’, ‘growing your own food’ and ‘giving back to society’. Rightly chosen for the Earth Day Network Rising Star Award, Prasiddhi has truly risen to follow her calling.

Mahindra salutes the challenger spirit of people like Prasiddhi, who remind us that we can grow towards a greener future together.

#Rise #PeopleWhoRise #TogetherWeRise