The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Zubin Irani launched ‘Veer Gaatha’ a series of books on Param Veer Chakra awardees in New Delhi today. The Union Minister felicitated and expressed her gratitude to the families of Param Veer Chakra awardees for the sacrifices made by them for the country. She also appreciated the effort made by National Book Trust who materialised this initiative in collaboration with Indian army and Ministry of Defence.
She called upon Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag to suggest a mechanism under which members of ex-servicemen league may offer their services in disseminating the message of Veer Gaatha Series of books while sharing their real life experiences, which may inspire them to understand spirit of courage and sacrifices made for nation building by our soldiers.
The Ministry is also planning an initiative under which services of former servicemen would be utilised in schools for providing physical training and also creating awareness about sacrifices made by security forces for the nation. The Union Minister made a fervent appeal to NCERT and CBSE to make these books under ‘Veer Gaatha’ series available as additional reading material in schools across the country. She asked children to read stories of these real life heroes so that this initiative becomes meaningful. She said that she will appeal to all State education ministers and respective departments to make these books available in state educational institutions, colleges and schools.
She mooted an idea to document the contributions of personalities from all walks of life who contributed immensely towards nation building. The Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag expressed his thanks and complimented the Union Minister Smt Smriti Zubin Irani for realising this innovative idea. He also acknowledged efforts made by National Book Trust and Ministry of HRD to document and disseminate these inspiring stories of the real life heroes of post independent India. He also made a mention of ‘Seema Darshan’, an ongoing initiative of Ministry of HRD under which students across the States visited and interacted with jawans at the border areas of the country.
He expressed hope that such initiatives will help in imbibing spirit of patriotism, dedication and commitment toward our country among children. The five books in the series of 21 Param Veer Chakra Awardees were released on the occasion illustrating the saga of bravery of Param Veer Chakra awardees including Major Somnath Sharma (1947 war), Major Shaitan Singh (1962 war), CQMH Abdul Hamid (1965 war), Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (1971 war) and Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey (1999 Kargil war). All the five scripts have been prepared by Gaurav Sawant and illustrated by Fajruddin, Dheeraj Bhatia, Animesh Debnath, Nipen Bhuyan and Samudra Kajal Saikia. The Minister added that apart from the stories of all 21 Paramveer Chakara awardees, books on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Lt Gen JFR Jacob, Sam Manekshaw, Kanak Lata, Rani Gaidinliu should be brought out. Families of Param Veer Chakra Awardees, senior officers of Ministry of HRD, Defence establishments and NBT, and school children from Kendriya Vidyalaya were present on the occasion.