UNIQUE INITIATIVE OF GALLANTRY AWARDS PORTAL AND NCC TO MAINTAIN AND HONOUR THE STATUES OF WAR HEROES OF INDIA

To mark the 75th year of Independence, Gallantry Awards Portal and National Cadet Corps (NCC) have jointly initiated a unique scheme to celebrate and pay tribute to the gallants of the Armed Forces and others who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation. Under the initiative, statues of the brave hearts are adopted for cleaning & upkeep and cadets spread awareness among the people about the contribution and leadership traits of the War Heroes & other national personalities through interactive lectures, poetry recital, nukkad natak/dance etc. As on date, NCC has adopted 46 statues of Gallantry award winners – 10 Param Vir Chakra, 6 Ashoka Chakra, 11 Mahavir Chakra, four Kirti Chakra, 12 Vir Chakra and three Shaurya Chakra.

To enable greater reach of this noble activity of NCC, Gallantry Awards Portal has decided to live webcast these events, organised by NCC, every week. The portal (https://www.gallantryawards.gov.in/) also enables those, who are not physically present at the event, to pay their tributes virtually. The first such event was webcast live on July 7th on trial basis. The next event is scheduled to take place at 11am on July 16th, at Statue Junction, Tirupunithara at Kochi, Kerala, where the statue of Lt Col Ramakrishnan Vishwanathan, Vir Chakra, will be paid tribute by NCC. Lt Col Ramakrishnan Vishwanathan was the Second-in-Command of 18 GRENADIERS who had conducted operations on and around Tololing mountain in Drass sector, Kargil during Operation Vijay. He was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra for his actions during the Kargil war.

As part of the initiative, the local unit of NCC organises cleaning and information dissemination events on a weekly basis in the precincts of an adopted statue. NCC cadets of one or more educational institutions are tasked with the responsibility to carry out the activities. The event helps create awareness among the people about the deeds of the brave hearts of the country. It also aims to motivate people to participate in the Swachh Bharat campaign propagated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to realise the ideals of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. The initiative spreads the message of importance of ‘Swachhta’ in day-to-day lives and inspiring the local population to take care of local monuments and heritage. It further contributes towards harnessing the energy of the youth towards social causes and instilling a sense of patriotism in them. This initiative of NCC has got encouragement from all quarters. One can log on to the Gallantry Awards portal for information on future events. People can also suggest statues requiring adoption by a local NCC unit. The suggestions can be sent to the portal.