Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday flagged off a fortnightly train service exclusively for children between Banihal and Baramulla areas in the state.
The Chief Minister flagged off the train at Qazigund and travelled with the children till Baramulla and finally deboarded at Srinagar.
She interacted with the children and asked them to devote time to their studies and extracurricular activities in equal measure.
The children were seen reciting rhymes, singing songs and enjoying the ride.
During the train ride, kids of different schools mingled with the Chief Minister.
They informed her about their schools and areas.
Mehbooba Mufti enquired from the children about their schools, studies and also their extracurricular activities.
She said she was happy to see smiles back on the faces of kids after a long pause of depressive environments away from their schools.
She said children of the state need more and more such occasions of outing and assured them that the Government would be taking steps for regularizing their activities in sports, extracurricular, adventure and other such interactive activities.
It may be recalled that the idea of running a train exclusively for children was mooted by the Chief Minister in view of the fact that kids of the Valley have generally limited facilities of outing available locally.
The fortnightly train ride would give them an opportunity to know their province and state much closely and mingle with children of other areas and districts.
The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting the Chief Minister had with Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu at New Delhi last month wherein she had pitched for starting such a train service.
IBNS
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