Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi has called upon the Puducherry unit of Indian Coast Guard to broaden its social outreach programmes to include transformative interventions with long-term benefits.
Addressing the 43rd Raising Day celebrations of Indian Coast Guard, Ms. Bedi said while it was laudable that the Coast Guard hosted programmes such as blood donation camps and painting contests for school children, they could also contribute towards causes such as promotion of water harvesting.
Noting that the Coast Guard, as a strong arm of local administration and national governance, had skilled manpower resources, Ms. Bedi advocated greater collaboration for various social interventions.
The Lt. Governor paid handsome tributes to the Coast Guard unit here which “was an integral part of Puducherry with its long coastline”. The Coast Guard which was working closely with the administration and the police could be banked upon for assistance during any emergency, whether it was cyclone or search and rescue operations to save stranded fishermen or seafarers.
Deputy Inspector General Sanjiv Trikha, Commander, Coast Guard District Puducherry, sought the cooperation of the administration in making available the infrastructure to help the Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 13 in Puducherry fulfil its mandate.
Briefly recounting the history of the Indian Coast Guard which had grown exponentially from a modest unit based in Delhi with borrowed fleets to become the fourth largest coast guard unit in the world, Mr. Trikha said during the last year alone the Puducherry unit had conducted 30 search and rescue operations and saved 21 lives off the regional coastline.
Later Ms. Bedi and Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy distributed prizes to the winners of painting contests for children. Pondicherry University vice-chancellor Prof. Gurmeet Singh participated.
A cultural show featuring Bharatanatyam and Tippani, a dance form of Gujarat, was also held as part of the celebrations.
