Vadnagar/Varanasi, Sep 20 (IANS) More than 500 young volunteers taking part in the ‘Seva Yatra’ on motorcycles from Vadnagar to Varanasi from September 17 to October 7 are offering manual service and cleaning campuses of schools, hospitals, orphanages and old-age homes along the route.

The 22-day journey, aiming to cover 35,500 kilometres across 20 teams, is part of a campaign organised around Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday and his 25 years of public service.

Driven by the goal of offering service to communities, the 500 youths are travelling from village to village and undertaking activities including cleanliness drives, cow service, care of older people and sharing awareness about government schemes, said a statement issued by the BJP.

They are travelling through towns, districts, talukas and villages, taking the spirit of Seva right to the grassroots, said the statement.

The Seva Yatris are not just passing through communities but stopping, meeting people and committing Seva in activities that respond to local needs - from cleanliness drives at ponds, temples, schools, parks, hospitals and other public areas to beneficiary interactions, youth dialogues, Gram Sabha samvad and Gau Seva to tree plantation under ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’.

At PM SHRI Schools, the Yatris are cleaning campuses, interacting with students and distributing books and stationery and at hospitals, orphanages and old-age homes, they are extending their support to those who need it the most, the statement said.

Kits are being distributed to widows, ASHA workers are being honoured, and communities are coming together for different welfare activities, it said.

The Yatra is equally about contact and dialogue. Yuva Samvads, Gram Sabha interactions, Mahila Samvads and beneficiary interactions are creating opportunities to meet people directly and understand the aspirations and provide awareness at the grassroots, the statement said.

Organ donation pledges are also being encouraged by the volunteers to promote the spirit of giving, while tributes to martyrs and freedom fighters are connecting communities with the nation's history and its heroes, it said.

The Yatra is bringing together several dimensions of public engagement, including Seva, Sampark, youth participation, social welfare, cultural connect and community mobilisation and carrying them from one grassroots location to another, it said.

On the occasion of PM Modi’s birthday on September 17, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off a 'Seva Sankalp Yatra' from Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) to Vadnagar in Gujarat.

He said the 'Seva Sankalp Yatra' is not merely a means of traversing the geographical distance between two places; rather, it is a sacred spiritual and social journey connecting the birthplace of PM Modi with his 'karmabhoomi', Kashi.

The Yatra is being organised under the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' as a means of serving the people, said the Defence Minister, adding that during the journey the waters of Varanasi and Vadnagar will be exchanged and used for the Jalabhishek of Hatkeshwar Mahadev and Baba Vishwanath.

He said the objective of this journey is to connect public sentiments, reach the last person through service activities, and highlight PM Modi's 25 years of dedicated service to the people.

--IANS

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