National portal for gallantry medal winners in offing: BSF DG

A national web portal featuring the lives and exploits of gallantry medal winners of both the defence and paramilitary forces is being prepared by the government as a mark of respect to them, the BSF chief today said.
Announcing the programme for the 'BSF half-marathon for martyrs', slated for October 22 in Delhi, BSF Director General K K Sharma said the portal will be on the lines of the 'Bharat Ke Veer' website where citizens can pledge funds for those men and women of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Sharma said the new proposed website will have the name, personal biography and details of the operation that the gallantry award-winning jawan or officer was involved in, from both the defence and paramilitary forces.
However, it was not immediately clear if people could make monetary contribution through the proposed portal.
It is being jointly developed by the Union home and defence ministries, the BSF DG said, adding that the aim of launching such a web portal is to honour the contribution of the gallant men and women and also make the common man aware about them.
The DG added that the 'Bharat Ke Veer' portal has already received funds to the tune of Rs 15 crore till now.

The portal was jointly launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and actor Akshay Kumar in April this year.
When asked if there was also a proposal to honour those personnel who have been injured in counter-insurgency, anti- Naxal and other operational duties but not have been decorated with gallantry medals, the DG said that such a thing was not being planned as "there are many injuries" during operations as compared to deaths and hence it will probably not be possible to accommodate their details over a website.