President celebrates 'Raksha Bandhan' with children

New Delhi, Aug 2 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday celebrated 'Raksha Bandhan', the sibling festival, with school students and specially-abled children here.

Children of various schools came to greet Mukherjee and his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

They tied rakhis on the wrist of Mukherjee.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi also celebrated 'Raksha Bandhan' with school children, specially-abled children and members of various voluntary organizations.

Children and women tied rakhi on the wrists of Gandhi, who was clad in green salwar kameez and stole.

Meanwhile, in a move to promote environment awareness, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tied a rakhi to a tree, saying the government is committed to protect environment and increase green cover in the state.

"After the division of Bihar in two parts and after the formation of Jharkhand, only nine percent green coverage is left in Bihar. So, we have decided to raise it to 15 percent during our five-year tenure. And, we will plant around 24 crore trees in these five years. This is not an easy pledge and we have set up a green mission for this. The forest department will monitor this programme and will play an important role," said Kumar.

Kumar also emphasised on the steps taken for planting trees under the 'Green Bihar Programme'.

Raksha Bandhan involves the tying of a sacred thread, a Rakhi, by a sister on her brother's wrist, symbolizing her love and prayers for her brother's well being, and a brother's vow to protect her for life. (ANI)