New Delhi: As part of the 'Bharat ke Veer' initiative, an official anthem was launched on Saturday. The anthem is sung and composed by singer Kailash Kher.



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The song was launched at an event which was attended by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, his deputies Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.




The event was also attended by heads of all the Central Armed Police Forces.


During the event, an amount of Rs 12.93 crore was raised for the fund with the participation and contribution from celebrities like Akshay, Kailash and people from the corporate world.


"We have launched this anthem. I ask everyone who loves music to download this anthem. Whatever money will come from this anthem's downloads will be donated to this initiative," said Kher.


Rijiju, who officially launched the anthem, said, "I knew that for a patriotic song the most suitable voice is Kailash Kher. His name came automatically to my mind. So I told him about it and he agreed to do his bit for this initiative. He wrote the song very fast and he shared it with me. I felt very good by all this."


Speaking at the event, the Singh said, "Our soldiers risk their lives to maintain peace in the country, and we are not able to do much for their families. It is a fact that whatever we do for the families of our martyred will always be less. It can't be said that it is enough. No matter how much money we give them, we can all agree that we cannot compare a man's life in terms of money."


"I want all the families of martyred soldiers to get at least Rs 1 crore and that is the idea behind the launch of the website 'Bharat ke Veer' (through which people can contribute). I feel happy that people are contributing to this fund with all their heart," he added.


Singh also lauded Akshay for the role he is playing in taking forward the initiative to help the soldiers' families.



Akshay, who is the brand ambassador of the 'Bharat ke Veer' initiative, said," Like the minister said, we have to come to ask everybody's help for this (initiative). With my folded hands, I ask everybody here plus all our countrymen to help this initiative in a very big way."



He also appealed to the HM to start a similar initiative for the soldiers who get disabled during combat missions. Kumar also sang the anthem with Kher at the event.


The 'Bharat ke Veer' initiative was launched by the HM in April 2017 and seeks to help families of paramilitary personnel killed in combat operations. As part of the initiative, a corpus fund was formed to raise money for the families of martyred soldiers.


(With PTI inputs)