Red Ribbon Express evokes good response in Nagpur

Nagpur, Dec 20 (UNI) The Red Ribbon Express, the special train travelling across the country to raise awareness about AIDS arrived here today for an eight-day visit to Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and evoked a good response from people.

The train was received by Divisional Commissioner Anand Limaye, District Collector Sanjay Mukherjee, Central Railway (CR) Divisional Railway Manager Ashwani Kumar Kapoor and others upon its arrival here this morning.

The campaign evoked a good response on the first day, with people from all walks of life visiting the train.

The Red Ribbon Express will be here till December 21, in Wardha from December 22 to 24, Ballarshah on December 25 and 26, and Gondia on December 27.

Its next destination will be Chhattisgarh, followed by its return to Maharashtra in the New Year to cover eight other districts in the state.

The activities to be held during its stay include audio-visual presentations, training, counselling and medical services on board, and cultural programmes by artistes from nearby villages.

The project is being implemented by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) and Nehru Yuwak Kendra Sanghatan (NYKS) in association with the local administration and the Ministry of Railways.

The campaign began from Delhi on the World AIDS Day on December 1 last and is slated to cover 180 major railway stations and nearly 43,000 villages across the country over a period of one year.

The train has already visited Alwar, Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Kota (all Rajasthan), Guna, Nagda, Ratlam, Ujjain, Indore, Bhopal and Itarsi (all Madhya Pradesh), and is scheduled to visit Durg and Bilaspur (both Chhattisgarh) towards the end of the month.

UNI