Youngsters' rickshaw expedition for a school

Nine UK-based NRG youths — five girls and four boys — on Monday set out on a journey in 3 rickshaws for a noble cause.

They aim to raise funds for imparting quality education to poor students studying at Dalai Lama-supported school at Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The group belongs to the youth wing of CARE Education Trust of the UK. It calls itself the 'Rickshawalas' and plans to collect 30,000 UK pounds during their 1,800-km long 'Rickshaw expedition'. It will take 14 days to complete the Madhapar-Manali journey on three-wheelers.

"I am happy to learn that the money the youth will generate will be spent on the students who trek for seven days in inhospitable hilly terrains of the Himalayas just to reach their school," said Vimal Gujaral, chief executive of Ahmedabad and Gandhidham-based Cargo Motors, after flagging off the rickshaw journey on the premises of Navchaetan Andhjan Mandal at Madhapar. Mandal is the first project taken up by the Care Education Trust for the students disabled in the 2001 earthquake in Kutch. Mandal's executive secretary Himanshu Sompura said that the rickshaws would be driven by the youths themselves, including girls, and they would travel 200 km a day. To a query, he said that the reason for choosing the three-wheelers was that the vehicle was found in the UK. "Since it is the most used vehicle by the common man in India, the group thought it to be the right one to represent rural India," he said.