Javadekar: ‘Wall of valour’ to be a voluntary funded project, no aid from Centre
Walls to be built on funding by students and teachers
The “Wall of Valour”— displaying portraits of 21 soldiers decorated with Param Veer Chakra —that is proposed to be erected at a thousand educational institutions in the country will be a voluntary project with no government funding, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar said here on Tuesday.
He said these walls would be built on “contributory funding” by students and teachers on “voluntary” basis.
“Organising such events help in changing atmosphere in our colleges and universities. It is just to revive the patriotic feeling in our youth. We are not interested in teaching lessons of patriotism to anyone as it is innate in every individual. But its continuous revival is a dire need. We do not want to force it,” said Javadekar at the function that was attended by vice-chancellors of universities and principals of schools, among others.
Incidentally, the initiative for the project was taken by Tarun Vijay, former MP and former editor of RSS mouthpiece, Panchjanya. Over 1,000 colleges and schools across the country will display the “Wall of Valour”. The minister launched the nationwide campaign — Vidyaveerta Abhiyan — to inspire the youth by honouring soldiers.
However, the minister said construction of the wall is voluntary and Centre will not issue any grants. “We live a protected life because of out brave soldiers. Students and teachers should be encouraged to pool in money to do this,” he said.
IIT director, KV commissioner, and officials from a number of central universities participated in the event. Delhi university, JNU, KV schools will start the process of putting up a wall soon. The initiative is the brainchild of former BJP MP and RSS leader Tarun Vijay who called it “a humble attempt to inculcate patriotism in the students”.
Under the campaign, universities, schools and colleges will set up walls measuring 15 X 20 feet and featuring portraits of 21 soldiers decorated with Param Veer Chakra.
A gold-sharing dispute helped Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) authorities zero in on a head constable who was allegedly helping a smuggler sneak the precious metal into the country. The officer has been suspended.
Sources said the accused allegedly used his position to help the smuggler whisk large amounts of gold out of the Chennai airport on several occasions. However, their “business arrangement” hit a southward trajectory after the head constable decided to keep all the gold for himself on the last few occasions.
“The smuggler blew the lid on the matter after the head constable stopped returning their gold. He unofficially complained to a senior officer, after which officials at the CISF’S Delhi headquarters came to know about it,” a CISF official said on the condition of anonymity.
Following the disclosure, the CISF asked its airport staffers to frisk all the officials emerging from the airport. They were also forbidden from venturing into areas where their presence was not required – a stricture that the head constable violated.
“Every CISF staff has assigned duties. Ideally, someone on entry gate duty should not go to the check-in area. As this particular officer was a company rider, his job was to make the roster. So, all the other staffers were wary of him,” the official said.
Although there was little clarity on the exact amount made by the head constable so far, an initial inquiry suggested that his bank account has been witnessing large transactions for a while now. “The accused would get a commission of Rs 1 lakh for every kg of gold worth Rs 26 lakh, and he has been doing this for about six months,” the official said.
The head constable used to meet the smuggler near the aerobridge, and take the gold from him. “As he was a CISF officer, nobody checked him. After coming out of the airport, he would hand over the gold to the smuggler. The commission would then be transferred to his account,” the official said.
Confirming the incident, CISF director general OP Singh said they would seek legal opinion before filing an FIR against the head constable.