Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 11: More than one lakh Rakhis prepared by school girls, under a `Rakhis for Soldiers’ campaign from Tamilnadu and Uttarakhand schools, were presented to the Army Chief today as a mark of support and love for jawans.
Little threads of red blue, golden and saffron hue shone on Army Chief’s table in South Block, ready to be sent to border areas showing entire India stands with our brave soldiers.
It all began when Doklam occurred and Tarun Vijay, a former MP from Uttarakhand, worked on an idea of `Rakhis for Soldiers’ campaign. That year, 25 thousand Rakhis were sent to Doklam through Army Hqrs and 20 sisters from Kolkata and Gangtok visited Army Unit closer to Doklam, in Sikkim to tie Rakhies to the soldiers.
This year, Tamilnadu’s girls, who don’t have a Rakhi tradition, took up the task to prepare Rakhis for jawans and Karur (Madurai)’s Bharani Vidyalaya’s girls prepared one lakh Rakhis for the armed forces. Many of the Rakhis were Eco Seed Rakhis, that contained seeds of Tulsi and other herbs ready for plantation, giving a message to make 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 other, along with Rakhis. These Rakhis will be sent to jawans in Siachin, Jaisalmer, Nathula and other border posts. Air India’s CMD Ashwini Lohani helped ferry these Rakhis from Tamilnadu to Delhi.
The Rakhis were presented to the Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat in his Army Hqrs by Swetha Gayathri, from Karur , Principal Ram Subramanyam, and Vandana Bisht Vijay, convener of the campaign along with several youth from Youth for Bharat organization, led by Tarun Vijay.
Gen Rawat appreciated the ‘Rakhi Brigade’ and said this little move goes a long way to boost morale of our soldiers. He also presented gifts and sweets to sisters, which is 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.
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