Some 40,000 children in special schools, Buds schools, Buds rehabilitation centres and orphanages spread across the State would have something sweet to look forward to this holy month of Ramzan: each one of them would get a packet of specially chosen dates, a gift from United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE President is sending 18 tonnes of dates varieties specially chosen by him for the children in Kerala to mark the holy month and flowering of the long-standing people-to-people ties between Kerala and the UAE. The first to taste the sweetness of the UAE ruler’s munificence were about 15 students from the Children’s Home at Poojappura and the Sri Chitra Home in the city, that too from the hands of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and UAE Consul General in charge of south India Jamal Husein Rahma Al Zaabi. The proposal is to distribute 250 gm of dates to each of the 40,000 children.
The first-of-its-kind function at the Chief Minister’s office was held at the initiative of the Consul-General with the co-operation and support of the volunteer humanitarian organisation, Emirates Red Crescent Society, in pursuance of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s declaration of 2017 as the ‘Year of Giving.’ Also present on the occasion were Chief Secretary Nalini Netto, a number of high-level consular officials and dignitaries.
Warm relations
Accepting the first packet from the UAE Consul General, the Chief Minister said that the UAE ruler’s gesture reflected the warm relations between the people of Kerala and the Emirate which had a large population of Malayalis. The UAE Consul General said the dates were being presented to the Chief Minister, who represents the people of Kerala, as a symbol of the philanthropy that is at the heart of Ramzan.
