09-08-2008 : Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
Children from the Bakarwal nomadic tribe in Jammu and Kashmir had an opportunity to meet the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
Interacting with the children, the President said that as children of a free country, they should make full use of the educational opportunities being provided to them by the Indian Army, so that they can contribute to national development. Smt. Patil was very interested to know about their educational facilities and their lives. The President felt that the Army could help the community sell their products and goods.
The group of 20 children is currently in Delhi as part of the OP Sadbhavana Yatra of the Indian Army. Their visit from August 1 to 18 also includes visits to Jaipur, Ambala, Karnal, Jammu and Jalandhar. The children told the President that they had taken a ride in a Metro train for the first time in their lives, interacted and played with children from a public school and would be watching a movie for the first time in their lives in a theatre. The children also told her that they saw mechanised dairying operations in Karnal also for the first time. This is for the first time that these children have ever been beyond Jammu.
The Bakarwals are a nomadic tribe who migrate from the interiors of Jammu and Kashmir valley and whose livelihood is solely dependent upon their livestock, which includes sheep and goats and sometimes leasing their horses.
The release issued at 1930 hrs
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