LUDHIANA: In a unique gesture for the armed forces this independence day, thousands of school students of Ludhiana have sent 36,947 "thank you" cards and letters to the Indian Army and BSF units stationed in Punjab and Jammu Kashmir.Under this initiative which was made possible with the efforts of income tax department Ludhiana, 25,530 letters and cards were personally handed over to Mukul Goyal, IG BSF, Jalandhar on Monday by chief commissioner of income tax (CCIT), Binay K Jha.On Tuesday students from several city schools turned up at income tax office to hand over hundreds of cards and letters of theirs to the army officers and jawans in person, where Colonel KS Mathur (Commanding officer of 103 infantry battalion) and his second in command LT Col Bhupinder Kotecha along with JCOs and jawans were themselves present and thanked the children, teachers and IT department. During this get together several students and their teachers addressed the gathering and thanked the Indian army for protecting nation and its citizens. A special greeting message on behalf of IT department was presented by CCIT Jha to the army officers.Speaking on the occasion, Jha said, “We are proud of our brave armed forces who guard the borders of our country and they risk their lives for the safety and sovereignty of our nation. We can sleep peacefully because they stay awake, away from their loved ones doing their duty. We, therefore, salute their bravery and sacrifice and we should always thankful to them for our freedom and safety”Jha also added, “We got a tremendous response from the small kids who participated in this initiative for our true heroes and more than 36,000 cards and letters were received by us from schools all over Ludhiana which is really incredible”Meanwhile addressing the students, Col KS Mathur said, “We are touched by the gesture shown by the children who made thousands of beautiful cards and letters for the armed forces. This will not only help in boosting the morale of the jawans and officers but it will also send a message that their sacrifice is not going waste and our future generation cares and respects them. We are thankful to the students, teachers and the team of income tax department for this unprecedented initiative” Students and teachers from Maa Sharda Vidyapeeth, Shri Gyan Devi Bawa School, Sat Paul Mittal School, Greenland School, DAV Public school, BCM School attended today’s program.

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