Neeraj Chopra's Tokyo Olympics javelin and para-athlete Sumit Antil's javelin are among the items that are up for grabs in the e-auction of gifts presented by Olympians and Paralympians to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Neeraj had bagged a gold medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics and he became the first Indian athlete to win gold for the country in track and field. Some days later, Antil followed suit in the Paralympics and he also bagged gold.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving a chance to all the countrymen to bag the mementos which hold a special place for the nation. The women's hockey team had presented one signed hockey stick to PM Modi and that is also up for auction. The blue hockey stick includes the signatures of Rani Rampal, Savita Punia, Navjot Kaur, Gurjit Kaur and the other members of the team.
The third edition of the e-auction of gifts presented to PM Modi is being held from September 17 to October 7 through the web portal https://pmmementos.gov.in.
Other interesting artefacts include replicas of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, Chardham, Rudraksh Convention Centre, models, sculptures, paintings, angavastras among others.
Javelin used by gold medalist Sumit Antil in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and the javelin used by Neeraj Chopra in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are the items with the highest base price at Rs one crore each.
The lowest-priced item is a small-sized decorative elephant for Rs. 200. Some of the other items like boxing gloves used by Lovlina Borgohain that are blue with strapped handles at the bottom signed by the player herself are also put for the auction.
The badminton racket autographed by Krishna Nagar, Gold Medallist in Paralympics, is also in the bid. Also, there is a Table Tennis racket autographed by Bhavina Patel, Silver Medallist, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
According to PIB, proceeds from the e-auction shall go to the Namami Gange Mission aimed at conserving and rejuvenating Ganga. According to the statement, Narendra Modi is the first-ever Prime Minister of India, who has decided to auction all the gifts he receives for a noble cause of conserving the lifeline of the country -- the river Ganges through "NamamiGange".
The PM has often described Ganga as a symbol of the country's cultural glory and faith, and that from the point of the river's origin at Gaumukh in Uttarakhand to where it merged with the sea in West Bengal, the mighty river enriched the lives of half of the country's population.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor