Chief of army staff, General Bipin Rawat says in Pune that CBSE will add book on champion army men
Chief of army staff, General Bipin Rawat, said that the move is being initiated to ensure that stories of our martyrs’ bravery and sacrifice are taught in schools.
In order to recognise the real heroes defending the country, chief of army staff, General Bipin Rawat, on Thursday, announced that they will be introducing a book in CBSE schools enlisting the bravery of Indian military personnel. He was speaking at a felicitation programme organised by BN Srivastava Foundation on November 2, at Dhanwantri Auditorium, AFMC, Pune.
“To honour our martyrs, we have approached the ministry of human resource development (HRD) to ensure that stories of their bravery and sacrifice are taught in schools . We have come out with a book this year, which was published last month, highlighting the actions of all our highest gallantry award winners. The HRD minister has promised us that the book will become a part of the CBSE syllabus from next year,” said General Rawat.
To further the drive, he informed about their efforts to display sketches and prints of award winning soldiers with their bio-data and record of their achievements, at all universities and colleges throughout India. “For now, we have been able to reach out to 200 colleges and universities, but our aim is to ensure that we have a gallery of these soldiers in all colleges and universities of India in one or two years,” he added.
At the programme, chief guest General Rawat felicitated principals and teachers from various schools in the city who had been involved in the preparation and distribution of greeting cards for soldiers of the armed forces. This year was the 10th anniversary of the drive which extends civilian support to the defence personnels by means of hand-painted greeting cards and rakhis. A total of 14 schools and two art institutes of Maharashtra were presented with awards for excellence and support to the foundation.
A running trophy in memory of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was also presented to Jayshree Venkatraman, the former principal of DAV School, Pune, for creating a record of sending 7,000 greeting cards to the armed forces. Lieutenant Colonel Ardesir Trophy was presented to Viva Institute of Applied Art Mumbai for excellence in the field of art.
B N Srivastava Foundation, a registered non-profit trust motivates students of schools and arts colleges of India to organise greeting cards and rakhi-making workshops during their art classes, which are then presented to Armed Forces and Indian Satellite Organisation personnel.
Lauding the initiative, General Rawat made a request to the students to send vernacular cards as well. “You have been making cards in English and Hindu. I would request you to also make cards in vernacular languages because as a secular army, our troops come from all regions of the country and therefore understand and appreciate all languages spoken throughout the country,” he concluded.