*Sunil, Vilas, Dalbir shine in BSF Half Marathon
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 22: Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Choudhary today called upon the youth to learn from the sacrifices of the martyrs and play their role in nation building.
The Minister was addressing the gathering during the concluding ceremony of Half Marathon at Bana Singh Stadium, R S Pura.
The ‘Run for BSF Martyrs’ was organized by Border Security Force in memory of BSF personnel who laid down their lives while defending the borders. It was organized in collaboration with Communication and Capacity Development Unit of PHE, I&FC Department, State Bank of India and JK Channel.
The Minister paid tributes to the local BSF martyrs who gave the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty and honoured the NoKs of 16 local BSF personnel.
The 21.5 km long Half Marathon was flagged off by DIG, BSF SHQ Indreshwar Nagar Pardeep Katyal in which 517 participants belonging to different age groups and hailing from different villages participated.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said every individual should realize his responsibilities towards his country and contribute towards the development of the nation in whichever way possible. There is a need to educate the children about the sacrifices given by our jawans for keeping us safe at our homes, he added.
He urged the youth to actively take part in these kinds of programmes as sports activities keep the body and mind fit and also helps in achieving the commanding heights in life.
Later, the Minister distributed cash prizes among the winners of the Half Marathon.
Sunil Choudhary was honoured with a cash prize of Rs 20,000 for picking up the first spot in the Run. Constable Vilas Bishnoi and Dalbir Singh clinched second and third positions and were given a cash prize of Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively. Mukesh Kumar was also given a consolation prize of Rs. 5,000 while as 66-yr-old Om Parkash and a differently-abed Makhan Lal were given special cash prizes of Rs. 2,000 each.
Commandant (OPS) SHQ Harmeet Singh, Commandant 176 Bn BSF Yuvraj Dubey, Commandant 78 Bn BSF V.K Singh, Commandant 192 Bn BSF Amarbir Yadav, SDM RS Pura Naresh Sharma and other officers of the district administration were present in the programme.
Meanwhile, in the memory of its martyrs, on 22nd Oct 2017, BSF organised Half-Marathon all over India with the motto ‘Run for the Martyrs’. In Jammu Frontier, besides the main event at Paloura Camp Jammu, races were also held at Samba, Miran Sahib, Akhnoor and Sunderbani. Over 600 runners from all age groups and sections of society participated in Half-Marathon at Jammu. There were two categories of Half-marathon (21 Kms) both for men and women and 5 Kms run only for women.
Earlier, the race was flagged off by Ram Awtar, Inspector General BSF Jammu Frontier in the presence of other senior officers of BSF. SK Mishra, DG (Prison) J&K, who was the chief guest, gave away prize money, certificates and trophies to winners. Families of the martyrs from Jammu region graced the occasion with their presence during the event. K. Vijay Kumar, IG Zone CRPF Jammu and Deepak Choudhry, DDIB Jammu also spared their valuable time for the cause.
The Half Marathon, organized by BSF training centre Udhampur was organized for 10 Kms instead of 21.1 Kms due to security reason. The event was flagged off by Pawan Kumar Gupta, MLA Udhampur in the presence of senior BSF Officers and officials, Civil Administration and prominent citizens of the area. The closing ceremony was held at BSF Parade ground, wherein Dina Nath Bhagat, MLA Chenani- Ghordi was the chief guest.
The BSF Battalion 173 today organized ‘Half Marathon 2017’ at Panjtilla Head Quarter Samba in which 600 individuals from bordering villages of the Samba and Kathua besides Jawans of 80 BN BSF, 173 BN BSF and 97 BN BSF participated.
The 10 km marathon was organised with the message of “Run for Martyrs”, “Run for Public Connect” and “Run for Unity”.
MLA Samba Dr. Davinder Kumar Manyal flagged off the march.
Deputy Commissioner, Samba Sheetal Nanda, DSP Head Quarter Samba Tanveer Ahmed, Bhupinder Singh Commandant 97 BN BSF, Madan Lal Commandant 80 BN BSF , B.C. Joshi second in command 173 Battalion BSF, Ajay Kumar Regional Manager SBI, Police Officials, BSF Officials and locals were present on the occasion.
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