Bollywood actor Sonu Sood will be the brand ambassador for Delhi government’s “Desh ke Mentor” programme, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced here on Friday.
“We are delighted to have onboard Sonu Sood, who has inspired lakhs of youth across the country with his selfless services to the nation,” the CM said.
The soon-to-be-launched programme entails “adopting” one to ten government school students who can be mentored by citizens who are successful in their respective fields, the Chief Minister said at a digital briefing. Mentors will take out 10 minutes every week to guide students over the phone. Interested citizens can adopt between one to ten children studying in the city’s government schools as part of the initiative.
When asked whether his association with the AAP government for the initiative heralded his foray into politics, Mr. Sood said he did not need to be a politician to be a patriot.
The BJP, however, alleged that the initiative was the AAP’s excuse to get the actor onboard for its poll campaign in States such as Punjab and Goa.
Helping hand
During the pandemic, the government stated that Mr. Sood had stepped forward to help those who reached out to him and was widely recognised for his humanitarian work. The Sood Charity Foundation had been helping thousands of deserving students achieve their educational and professional goals, whether through financial assistance or efforts to prepare them for a professional career, the government stated.
As the face of the “Desh Ke Mentor” initiative, Mr. Sood had appealed to citizens across the country to step forward and support children’s education.
“I am impressed by the transformation in Delhi government schools in the past year. High quality education for all children, whether rich or poor, is the key to a brighter future for the country. We need to come together and do our share for nation building. I urge the youth of India to come be a part of Desh Ke Mentor,” Mr. Sood said.
“We have worked very hard to transform Delhi government schools. Now we want to make education a people’s revolution. When young people across the country join our education revolution, no one will be able to stop India from becoming a global leader,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Notably, in April this year, Mr. Sood was appointed as the brand ambassador of the Punjab government for its COVID vaccination programme.
Opposition’s contention
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta alleged whether it was this mentorship programme or skill development or education loans, Mr. Kejriwal comes up with such initiatives “only to mislead the youth” and that Mr. Kejriwal would “use Sonu Sood the same way he did poet Shri Kumar Vishwas for coming to power.”
“In so far as Mr. Kejriwal’s move to associate Sonu Sood with the programme is concerned, this is not to benefit youths but take advantage of his image and appeal for his own party benefit in poll-bound States,” he alleged.
