Akshay, Home Minister, others raise Rs 12.93 crores for soldiers at 'Bharat Ke Veer' anthem

New Delhi: As part of the 'Bharat Ke Veer' initiative, which is a corpus fund to help the families of paramilitary troopers killed in the line of duty, an official anthem was launched here on Saturday.

The anthem, sung and composed by singer Kailash Kher, was launched at an event which was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, his deputies Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.

During the event, an amount of Rs 12.93 crore was raised for the fund with the participation and contribution from celebrities like Akshay, Kailash and people from the corporate world.

The event was also attended by heads of all the Central Armed Police Forces.

"We have launched this anthem. I ask everyone who love music to download this anthem. Whatever money will come from this anthem's downloads will be donated to this initiative," said Kher.

Rijiju, who officially launched the anthem, said, "I knew that for a patriotic song, the most suitable voice is Kailash Kher. His name came automatically in my mind.

"So I told him about it, and he agreed to do his bit for this initiative. He wrote the song very fast, and he shared with it me. I felt very good by all this," he added.

The 'Bharat Ke Veer' initiative was launched by the home minister in April last year and seeks to help families of paramilitary personnel killed in combat operations. As a part of the initiative, a corpus fund was formed to raise money for the families of martyred soldiers.

Speaking at the event, the home minister said, "Our soldiers risk their lives to maintain peace in the country, and we are not able to do much for their families. It is a fact that whatever we do for the families of our martyred will always be less. It can't be said that it is enough.

"No matter how much money we give them, we can all agree that we cannot compare a man's life in terms of money."

Singh also lauded Akshay for the role he is playing in taking forward the initiative to help the soldiers' families.

"I want all the families of martyred soldiers to get at least Rs 1 crore, and that is the idea behind the launch of the website 'Bharat Ke Veer' (through which people can contribute). I feel happy that people are contributing to this fund with all their heart," he said.

The event, organised by Dalmia Bharat Group, also witnessed the launch of an Amar Chitra Katha graphic novel by Anurag Agarwal depicting the stories of CAPF's soldiers.

A short film, directed by Adi Pocha, on soldiers and their families was also released at the event by Ahir.

Akshay, who is the brand ambassador of the Bharat Ke Veer initiative, said," Like the minister said, we have to come to ask everybody's help for this (initiative). With my folded hands, I ask everybody here plus all our countrymen to help this initiative in a very big way."

He also appealed to the home minister to start a similar initiative for the soldiers who get disabled during combat missions.

He also sang the anthem with Kher at the event.

Addressing the event, Dalmia Bharat Group MD, Puneet Dalmia, said, "We express our gratitude to all the contributors and supporters for raising more than Rs 13 crore. We are hopeful that this fund amount will have a huge impact in their lives."