By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 11 Aug: Dehradun, 11 Aug: More than one lakh Rakhis prepared by school girls under a Rakhis for Soldiers campaign in Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand schools were presented to the Army Chief today as a mark of support and love for the Jawans. Little threads of red, blue, golden and saffron hue shone on the Army Chief’s table in South Block ready to be sent to border areas showing the entire India stands with the brave soldiers.
It all began when Doklam occurred and Tarun Vijay, a former MP from Uttarakhand, worked on the idea of the Rakhis for Soldiers campaign- that year 25 thousand rakhis were sent to Doklam through Army Hqrs, and 20 sisters from Kolkata and Gangtok visited an army unit close to Doklam in Sikkim to tie Rakhis on soldiers’ wrists.
This year Tamil Nadu’s girls, who don’t have a Rakhi tradition took up the task to prepare Rakhis for Jawans and Karur(Madurai) Bharani Vidyalaya girls prepared one lakh Rakhis for the armed forces. Many of the Rakhis were Eco Seed Rakhis, which contained seeds of Tulsi and other herbs ready for plantation, giving a message on making festivals eco-friendly. These were prepared by Suhasini Shekhawat and Youth For Bharat team. Dehradun’s Aryan School girls made special rakhi greeting cards – with sweet hand written messages, each one different from the other – along with the Rakhis. The rakhis will be sent to jawans in Siachin, Jaisalmer, Nathu La and other border posts.
Air India CMD Ashwini Lohani helped ferry these Rakhis from Tamil Nadu to Delhi.
The rakhis were presented to the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, at the Army Hqrs by Swetha Gayathri from Karur, Principal Ram Subramanyam and Vandana Bisht Vijay, convener of the campaign, along with several youths from Youth for Bharat organisation, led by Tarun Vijay.
Gen Rawat appreciated the ‘Rakhi Brigade’ and said this little move would go a long way to boosting the morale of the soldiers. He also presented gifts and mithai to the sisters asis customary for a brother on behalf of all soldiers.
Tarun Vijay said that next year he plans to have five lakh Rakhis from all parts of the nation to be given to all three service chiefs for their respective Jawans.
