The third edition of Project ‘Veer Gatha’, a joint initiative of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education as part of Republic Day celebrations, has witnessed an overwhelming pan India response. Approx. 1.37 crore students from around 2.43 lakh schools participated in the initiative, with 100 winners being selected at the national level. The list of 100 winners - 25 each from Class 3rd to 5th; Class 6th to 8th; Class 9th to 10th & Class 11th to 12th categories - is given below:

(SUPER 100 WINNERS LIST)

Launched on July 13, 2023, Project Veer Gatha 3.0 introduced a range of thought-provoking topics for essay and paragraph writing. Students were given the option to explore themes such as their chosen role model, particularly focusing on Gallantry Award winners. Furthermore, students were encouraged to delve into the life stories of any freedom fighter that inspired them such as Rani Laxmibai. The suggested topics also included the 1857 First War of Independence, and the significant role of Tribal Uprising in the Freedom Struggle. This diverse set of topics not only enriched the content of Veer Gatha 3.0, but also fostered a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural heritage among the participants.

The project's execution involved schools conducting activities at their level; nationwide interaction programmes by Gallantry awardees in various schools in offline & online modes and the submission of top entries to the MyGov portal. The school-level activities for Veer Gatha 3.0 were concluded on September 30, 2023.

After series of evaluations at State and District level, nearly 3,900 entries were submitted for national level evaluation. A committee appointed by Ministry of Education selected 100 best entries approved by the State Nodal Officers of all States/Union Territories (UT). The felicitation of the winners will be jointly carried out by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education in New Delhi. Each winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and get an opportunity to witness the Republic Day Parade 2024 at Kartavya Path as special guests.

In addition to the students already selected at the national-level, eight winners at State/UT level (two from each category) and four winners at District level (one from each category) will be selected and felicitated by the State/UT/District authorities.

The Government had launched Project ‘Veer Gatha’ as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate 75th year of Independence. The initiative is aimed at disseminating the details of acts of bravery of the Gallantry awardees and the life stories of these bravehearts among the students so as to raise the spirit of patriotism and instil values of civic consciousness amongst them. Twenty-five winners (Super 25) each were selected in the first two editions, which had witnessed the participation of around eight lakh and 19 lakh students respectively.

ABB/Savvy/KB