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Friends of Tribal Society (FTS) launches the second edition of Ekal Run in the city
22nd December’ 2019, Kolkata: Friends of Tribals Society (FTS), a premier non-profit, non-governmental and voluntary organization, headquartered in Kolkata, organized a second version of Ekal Run marathon (Kolkata chapter) on Sunday, 22nd December, 2019 in Kolkata. The event was flagged off from Godrej Waterside, Sec-V, Salt Lake in the presence of noted celebrities like Ms. Agnimitra Paul and city corporates like Mr. Dipak Jalan, Mr. Vivek Gupta and Mr. Debashis Sen. The event saw overwhelming participation from more than 2700 people from the city in the category of 3 km, 5km, 10 km and 21 km run.
Established in 1989, FTS has been working relentlessly towards the upliftment of rural and tribal mass of India through the Ekal Abhiyan movement and ensuring functional literacy for the children of this community. Ekal Run is also aimed at fulfilling this larger goal. Over the past 30 years, there have been 34 chapters of Ekal Run across India, which contributed to the formation of around one lakh one thousand four hundred seventeen ‘Ekal Vidyalayas’ or One-Teacher schools. These schools provide basic literacy to approximately 25 lakh children in tribal and rural clusters of India.
Congratulating the Ekal Vidyalaya organization on reaching the figure of 1-lakh schools across India, Honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, said, “Working with passion, dedication and commitment turns an impossible goal into an achievable one.” He highlighted the fact that the organization has been awarded with Gandhi Peace Prize due to its commitment towards social service and for being an inspiration role model for the whole country.
Ekal Run 2.0 is the second version of Friends of Tribal Society’s Kolkata chapter and was aimed at creating awareness about the Ekal Abhiyan movement amongst the people. All the monetary receiving of the initiative will be contributed towards the education of tribal and rural children under the Ekal Abhiyan movement of FTS. Thus, FTS is providing an opportunity for people to be a part of a noble cause. In this noble initiative, past and current students of different Ekal schools also participated.
The event was graced by Mr. Debashis Sen, Chairman, HIDCO, Mr. S. Raveendran, IG, CRPF, Mr. Arun Lal (Former Cricketer), who officially flagged off the run. In addition to this, city based corporates, CenturyPly, Pentonic, Skipper, Deco, GreenPly and Infinity supported the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kishan Kejriwal, President, FTS, Kolkata Chapter, said, “We have been working persistently towards the tribal community upliftment and empowering the children of this rural cluster by providing basic literacy is one of our primary goals. Organizing initiatives like Ekal Run, we intend to create awareness about the Ekal Abhiyan movement and encourage the city towards contributing this noble cause.”
Mr. Niraj Kumar Harodia, Secretary, FTS, said, “We have been working persistently over 30 years towards the upliftment of the tribal community and initiatives like Ekal Run has helped us reach out to the people in a more constructive way. We are overwhelmed by the response and support that we have received so far. We are taking this as a sign of encouragement as we progress towards the larger goal.”
Mr. Vinay Chugh, Joint Secretary, FTS & Chairman, Ekal Yuva Kolkata, said, “We are extremely thrilled to receive overwhelming participation from the city in Ekal Run 2.0. We look forward to more remarkable versions in the coming year. ”
Gourav Bagla, Vikash Poddar, Panakj Jhawar, Ankit Deewan, Shruti Jain, Rupa Das, Rounak Fatesaria, Puneet Gupta, Balkrishan Agarwal, Siddharth Poddar who are also the members of FTS, played active roles in the success of Ekal Run 2.0 Kolkata Chapter.
