New Delhi [India], November 20 : More than 1.76 crore school students from all 36 States and UTs participated enthusiastically in Project Veer Gatha 4.0 on Wednesday in the national capital, a press release said.
The students have sent poems, paintings, essays, videos, etc. in honour of the acts of bravery and sacrifice of the officers/personnel of the Armed Forces.
Project Veer Gatha was instituted in 2021 with the aim of disseminating the inspiring tales of valour, selfless sacrifice and courage of the Gallantry Awardees and the life stories of these bravehearts among the students to inculcate the spirit of patriotism amongst them.
Education Ministry in a statement said that Project Veer Gatha enhanced this noble aim by providing a platform for the school students to do creative projects/activities based on heroic deeds and sacrifice of gallantry award winners.
Three editions of the Veer Gatha Project have been conducted in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. Under the Veer Gatha Project 4.0, the following activities have been conducted to date:
As per the Education Ministry, "Schools have conducted various projects/activities (from September 16 to October 31) and have uploaded a total of 4 best entries from each school, on the MyGov portal."
"Simultaneously, to enrich the knowledge about the gallant heroes and unsung stories among school students, the Ministry of Defence, through its field organisations or Army/Navy/Air Force, has organized virtual meets/face-to-face awareness programmes/sessions for schools across the country," the Ministry added.
Since its inception, the project has witnessed increasing participation of students across the country. It may be noted that 8 lakh students had participated in the Veer Gatha Project (Edition-I); 19.5 lakh students participated in the second edition and the third edition saw a participation of 1.36 crore students.
According to the release, during the Veer Gatha Project Editions I and II, 25 winners (Super 25) were selected and their felicitation was done by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Defence in New Delhi. In Veer Gatha Project 3.0, 100 winners (Super 100) were selected at the National Level. This year too, under Project Veer Gatha 4.0, 100 winners will be selected and their felicitation will be done jointly by the Education and Defence Ministry.
Each winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Also, there will be 4 winners each at the District level and 8 winners each at the State/UT level and all such winners will be felicitated by the respective District & State/UT, it added.