KOCHI: Six fans of the Armed Forces from Mumbai, who are on a trans-India motorbike ride from Banihal to Kanyakumari, reached Kochi on Wednesday. Their mission is to collect donations for theArmed Forces Flag Day (AFFD) FundHailing from different professions, the team is led by Sameer Samant and it comprises Pradeep Dongre, Ravi Agrawal, Vikram Hemnani, Rayomand Balsara and Yogesh Lale. They have five Harley Davidsons and a Triumph Tiger.
The team reached Kochi from Kozhikode, after starting their journey from Jammu, from where they rode to Banihal and further to Udhampur - Ludhiana - Chandigarh - Delhi - Gurgaon - Jaipur - Kota - Indore - Nagpur - Hyderabad - Bengaluru -Coimbatore and Kozhikode. In the last leg, they will travel from Kochi to Kanyakumari. The Armed Forces Flag Day or the Flag Day of India is a day dedicated towards collection of funds from people for the welfare of the armed forces personnel.
Over the years, it has become a tradition to commemorate this day to honour the soldiers, sailors and airmen of India.Immediately after India achieved independence, a need arose for the government to manage the welfare of its defence personnel. On August 28, 1949, a committee set up under the defence minister decided to observe a Flag Day.
The idea behind observing a Flag Day was to distribute small flags to the general population and in return collect donations. Flag Day gains more significance as it considers it is the responsibility of the civilian population to take care of the families and dependents of the armed forces personnel who fight for the country.
It is mainly observed to serve three basic purposes - rehabilitation of battle casualties, welfare of serving personnel & their families and resettlement & welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.
The fund collection is managed throughout the country by the local arms of the ‘Kendriya Sainik Board ‘(KSB), which is part of the Ministry of Defence. The fund collection is organised both by official and non-official means through voluntary organisations. Though the welfare of the ex-servicemen and their dependents is the joint responsibility of the Centre and the states / UTs, a majority of the problems have to be resolved only by the states/ UTs.
idea behind Flag Day
The idea behind observing a Flag Day was to distribute small flags to the general population and in return collect donations. Flag Day gains more significance as it considers it is the responsibility of the civilian population to take care of the families of the Armed Forces personnel.