The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Zubin Irani launched ‘Veer Gaatha’ a series of books on Param Veer Chakra awardees in New Delhi. The Union Minister felicitated and expressed her gratitude to the families of Param Veer Chakra awardees for the sacrifices made by them for the country. She also appreciated the effort made by National Book Trust who materialised this initiative in collaboration with Indian army and Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry is also planning an initiative under which services of former servicemen would be utilised in schools for providing physical training and also creating awareness about sacrifices made by security forces for the nation.

The Union Minister made a fervent appeal to NCERT and CBSE to make these books under ‘Veer Gaatha’ series available as additional reading material in schools across the country. The Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag expressed his thanks and complimented Irani for realising this innovative idea.

The five books in the series of 21 Param Veer Chakra Awardees were released on the occasion illustrating the saga of bravery of Param Veer Chakra awardees including Major Somnath Sharma (1947 war), Major Shaitan Singh (1962 war), CQMH Abdul Hamid (1965 war), Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (1971 war) and Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey (1999 Kargil war).

All the five scripts have been prepared by Gaurav Sawant and illustrated by Fajruddin, Dheeraj Bhatia, Animesh Debnath, Nipen Bhuyan and Samudra Kajal Saikia. The Minister added that apart from the stories of all 21 Paramveer Chakara awardees, books on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Lt Gen JFR Jacob, Sam Manekshaw, Kanak Lata, Rani Gaidinliu should be brought out.