NEW DELHI : A ‘Wall of Valour’ — displaying portraits of 21 soldiers decorated with Param Veer Chakra – which is proposed to be erected at over 1,000 educational institutions in the country will be a voluntary project with no government funding, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar said here on Tuesday.
Launching the Centre’s campaign ‘Vidya, Veerta Abhiyan’here on Tuesday, Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar, said these walls would be built on “contributory funding” by students and teachers on a “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.
Emphasising that the construction of the wall would be voluntary and that Centre will not issue grants for the purpose, he said. “We live a protected life because of our brave soldiers. Students and teachers should be encouraged to pool in money to do this. It is for a good cause,” he said.
He also condemned the killing of two Indian soldiers and the mutilation of their bodies by Pakistan and said there is anger across the country over the barbaric act.
“It is important that we have portraits of such soldiers in our universities to create passion and enthusiasm among youngsters”.
Institutions will collect funds individually to fund the project. “We leave it on our students and universities how to do it. Having such a wall will definitely change the atmosphere of the campus. Patriotism already exists within but the wall will help rejuvenate those feelings. It is a very good concept but it should come naturally and not be forced upon the institutions or students. So this will not be done through an order but people can do it voluntarily,” said HRD minister Prakash Javadekar.
Under the campaign universities, schools and colleges will set up walls measuring 15 X 20 feet and featuring portraits of 21 soldiers decorated with the Param Veer Chakra.
The idea of having a wall of martyrs in universities was first proposed by a group of exservicemen who had last year approached JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, saying portraits of martyrs and tanks used in wars should be put on display in the campus to instill sense of “nationalism” and “patriotism” among the students.
The demand came amid a raging debate on nationalism following a sedition row on campus over an event during which antinational slogans were allegedly raised.