India’s security forces are replete with stories of heroism, bravery, sacrifice and patriotism. The education ministry is taking an initiative in which the ex-servicemen would be giving physical education to school children and also apprise them and educate them about the work done and the sacrifices made by the Indian security forces.
The Education Minister Smriti Irani in an event made this announcement. During the event she also launched the first batch of five children’s books on the lives of five Param Veer chakra awardees-shaitan Singh, Abdul Hamid, Somnath Sharma, Arun Khetarpal and Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey. The NCERT and CBSE officials have also been asked to include these books in schools as additional reading materials.
According to Irani it is very much unfortunate that not much attempts were made in order to make the next generation aware of the contributions of the security forces many of whom have sacrificed everything for the country.
Irani stressed on the fact that books should also be brought out on the likes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Sam Manekshaw, Lt JFR Jacob, Kanak Lata and Rani Gaidinliu in addition to those on all the 21 Param Veer Chakra awardees.
She said,” My request to the National Book Trust is that there may be many stories which may have got lost from history books, but it is our responsibility to again highlight them so that posterity remembers their contributions.”
The Education Ministry’s move was welcomed and supported by the army chief Dalbir Singh who also presided over the event. In his speech he stated that this would help children learn about the real life heroes rather than the fictional heroes they usually read about.