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Congress gives first instalment of ₹12L to 30 Pak shelling affected children
Former minister and working president Raman Bhalla said that Rahul was moved by the plight of children during his visit to Poonch on May 24
Keeping the word of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the presidents of the J&K Pradesh Congress Committee Tariq Hameed Karra and Indian Youth Congress Uday Bhanu Chib on Wednesday handed over first instalment of ₹12 lakh to 30 children affected by Pak shelling in Poonch district.
Karra said, “On the directions of our leader Rahul Gandhi, we have handed over an amount of ₹12 lakh to 30 affected children to meet their educational expenditure for the next two years.”
“This is first instalment meant to meet for their school fee and books. After two years, another instalment will be handed over to them,” he added
Karra informed that the amount of ₹12 lakhs has been equally distributed among 30 children. “Their parents and guardian will ensure that the funds are properly utilised for meeting their educational expenditure,” he added.
The J&K Congress also relayed the information via X. “On the directions of LOP @RahulGandhi, cheques were distributed as financial assistance to 30 school-going children of martyrs of Pakistan Shelling at Dak Bungalow, Poonch,” it wrote.
Former minister and working president Raman Bhalla said that Rahul was moved by the plight of children during his visit to Poonch on May 24. “After Indo-Pak conflict, he was eager to visit Poonch. He came here and met affected families. Moved by the plight of small children, he decided to provide free education to them,” said Bhalla.
“All the 30 children belong to Poonch district. Our leader Rahul Gandhi decided that these children, many of whom lost their parents in recent Pak shelling, be provided financial help to complete their school education,” said president of the Indian Youth Congress Uday Bhanu Chib.
“They will be provided free education in Poonch itself. We are going to sponsor their education,” he added.
On May 24, Rahul Gandhi, had visited Christ School in Poonch town and asked the students to study hard, play hard and make a lot of friends.
“Now you have seen a little bit of danger and you have seen a little bit of frightening situation but don’t worry everything will come back to normal. Your way of responding to this problem should be that you study really hard, you play really hard and you make a lot of friends in school. Will you do that,” Rahul had said.
Poonch sector witnessed heightened artillery and mortar shelling after India carried out precise strikes under Operation Sindoor on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 6-7 in response to the Pahalgam massacre.
A wave of artillery shelling, missiles and drone strikes by Pakistan killed 28 people, 16 in Poonch district alone, and injured more than 70 between May 7 and 10 across Jammu and Kashmir.
