The Bathinda district administration's initiative Walkathon 2018 organised under Tandarust Punjab mission today got a whopping response with more than 5000 people rubbing shoulders with Finance Minister Punjab Manpreet Singh Badal and walking towards better health and wellness.Starting from Rose Garden the 1.5km walk culminated at Joggers' Park. Though the time for Walkathon was 6 am to 8 am keen and health conscious walkers has reached Rose Garden by 5 am. Even a handicapped youngster participated in this event.Addressing the huge gathering Finance Minister Punjab Mr Manpreet Singh Badal said that the main aim behind organising such events was to raise health consciousness in people of Bathinda and ultimately make Bathinda the healthiest district of Punjab. He suggested that everyone should walk at least an hour daily or should perform exercises. He appealed the females in crowd to use lesser ghee while cooking food as the present lifestyle doesn't involve too much of physical work and the more intake of ghee leads to problems like obesity.The district administration provides free t shirts to those participating in event. The Art of Living volunteers delivered session on yoga and meditation. They laid emphasis on positive thinking to waive off negativity in today's world.
The crowd walked with Finance Minister Punjab and reached Joggers Park where at the selfie point people were seen busy taking selfies. Mr Manpreet Singh Badal distributes appreciation certificates to those who have helped in organising the event. Deputy Commissioner Bathinda Mr Praneet, ADC Mrs Sakshi Sawhney, SSP Dr Nanak singh, SP Mr Gurmeet Singh Sidhu, tehsildar bathinda Mr Sukhbir Singh Brar, youth services coordinator Mr Kulwinder Singh, secretary Red Cross Society Mr Naveen Garhwal, were present . Besides them Congress leaders Mr Jaijeet Jauhal, Ashok Pardhan, Mohan Lal Jhumba,K K Aggarwal,Pawan Mani,Rajan Garg,Raj Numberdaar,OSD Jagtar Dhillon, media advisor Harjot Singh Sidhu,Rattan Rahi were present.Representatives of Senior Citizens Council, Senior Citizens Brotherhood Club, Retired Pensioners Association, Inner Wheel Club, Diamond Welfare Society, Malwa Heritage Foundation, Naujawan Society, Goodwill Society etc were also present.