Maneka gandhi
Maneka gandhiFacebook/WCD Ministry

As part of the "Zara yaad karo kurbani" programme of the government, seven women Union ministers will be visiting border areas to tie rakhis to soldiers. The festival of Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on Aug. 18 in India.

The women ministers will be tying rakhis to the jawans and spending the day with them. The seven ministers are Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,  MoS for health Anupriya Patel, Minister of State, Ministry of Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi and another minister. 

"An activity on this scale has not been organised in recent years. It is for the 1st time, so many Ministers will visit the border areas. As representatives of the people of India, the ministers will carry the message of solidarity and support to the jawans on raksha bandhan," Gandhi said. 

The rakhis were made by poor women artisans and will carry the logo of the Ministry of WCD's ‪#‎BetiBachaoBetiPadao‬ campaign. Gandhi distributed the rakhis to the rest of the ministers who are scheduled to make the visits. 

"The jawans will feel happy because of the visit as they work in isolation and minimal public interaction," the WCD ministry said in a statement. 

Irani will visit Siachen, Sitharaman will visit Assam, Patel will visit Jaisalmer and Gandhi has already reached the Indo-Nepal border. The details of the other ministers are not known. 

"It is an honour for me, to celebrate this festival here with my brothers who guard the borders," Irani was quoted as saying by ANI from Siachen. 

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu had made the announcement about the event before Independence Day. The programme is part of a larger campaign, in which many ministers visited statues and historical places that denote India's struggle for independence.