School students across the country will be nudged to prepare projects in the form of poems, paintings, essays or multimedia presentations on the lives of gallantry award winners, according to a Union government initiative which was rolled out on Thursday.
The project ‘Veer Gatha’ aims to make school students aware of the gallantry award winners, “honour the acts of bravery and sacrifice of India’s brave-hearts”, “celebrate the valiance and courage of armed force officers and personnel”.
Under the project, the submissions will first be vetted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs), following which a committee appointed by the Ministry of Education will pick 25 best entries at the national level which will be awarded on Republic Day. The submissions will be accepted till November 20. Students of Class III to XII can participate in the initiative.
“To honour the acts of bravery and sacrifice of the officers/personnel of the Armed Forces, other lawfully constituted forces and civilians, gallantry awards are announced twice in a year – first on the occasion of the Republic Day and then on the occasion of Independence Day.
“In order to disseminate the details of bravery acts and the life stories of these brave-hearts among the students, it has been proposed by the Ministry of Defence that school students may be motivated to do projects/activities based on gallantry award winners,” according to a government communication.
The Centre has suggested that the submissions should be structured in a way where students can lay out their vision for the nation had they been a gallantry award winner. In 2016, the Centre had launched illustrated story books on the valour of Param Vir Chakra awardees as part of a ‘Veer Gatha’ series.
The CBSE has also written to schools affiliated to it in this regard. Each school can submit up to four entries.