Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju along with Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat flagged off the "Great Ganga Run" at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday, September 15, 2019. The marathon was organised for the purpose of creating awareness about 'Ganga'.

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'Ganga is very important for the country and we need to create awareness'

"It is a good initiative by Ministry of Jal Shakti. This marathon has been organised by them. It has a very elaborative message. Ganga is very important for the country and we needed to create awareness. In this marathon, people from every age group are participating. I would like to congratulate the organisers on getting a number of people involved with Namami Gange Marathon," Rijiju told reporters.

The Minister of Jal Skhati stated that they had been preparing for the event for one month. Almost 20,000 people had enrolled and that it was nice to see so many people turning up for the marathon. He further added they will organise a Ganga Expedition in October as well.

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Kiren Rijiju tweeted: 'It was a wonderful moment'

"Yesterday, I met a number of young people from Jammu and Kashmir. They want to take part in sports. We are making plans for different cities and villages. Sabko saath lekar chalenge," Rijiju said. On August 5, 2019, the Central government abrogated Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. They also brought in a Jammu and Kashmir Re-Organisation bill bifurcating the state into two Union Territories--Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

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The objective of 'The Great Ganga Run'

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(Inputs from ANI)