- NGF adopts 41 Army Goodwill Schools in JK
- Provides Rs 42 lakhs relief to 114 families
Gopal Sharma
RAJOURI, Sept 22: Veteran actor Nana Patekar turned little emotional while meeting the victims of Pakistani shelling in Rajouri town on Monday, as he distributed relief material worth Rs 42 lakhs among them as a helping hand extended to them.
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While representing his NGO, Nirmala Gajanan Foundation (NGF), Patekar visited the residents of border areas in Poonch and Rajouri districts who bore the brunt of Pakistan’s shelling during Operation Sindoor in May this year.
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Patekar, who played the role of an Army Major in the film Prahaar, said he was personally sponsoring the education of an 11-year-old girl who lost her father, Amreek Singh, during Pak shelling in Poonch.
Nana Patekar distributed Rs 42 lakhs in aid to 117 families, who either lost a member or suffered house damage between May 7 and 10.
Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces with multi- missile strikes to destroy terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
The strikes were made in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.
At least 28 people were killed in retaliatory shelling, missile strikes, and drone attacks by Pakistani forces along the Line of Control.
“It is a small contribution for the families who are our own and suffered only because they are living on the borders. We want to convey a message to them that they are not alone,” Patekar said, who was flanked by General Officer Commanding of 25th Infantry Division Maj Gen Kaushik Mukherjee and Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Abhishek Sharma.
“It is our responsibility to come forward and adopt at least one such family. We should not always rely on the Government, which is doing whatever it can,” Patekar told reporters at Rajouri Garrison.
The actor also named Amitabh Bachchan and Johnny Lever as fellow philanthropists from the Film Industry.
“I am just a face in the front. It is just a beginning, and we will continue such efforts,” he said.
The ace actor said that though he is visiting Rajouri for the first time, he did his bit in the 1999 Kargil war and performed duties in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, visiting even forward areas guarded by the BSF.
Patekar, a Padma Shree awardee said his NGO has adopted 48 Army Goodwill schools – 28 in Kashmir, seven in Ladakh and the rest in Jammu to improve education standards and infrastructure.
Asked whether his NGO was planning to set up a hospital for border residents, he said it is very easy to establish a facility but difficult to maintain it.
On the poorly maintained Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway, he said, “I will take up this issue with the concerned quarters in Delhi for its immediate upkeep to provide better facilities to the border residents.”
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