It is May 1- Maharashtra Day/ Labour Day and several people from across Maharashtra be it celebs or common man, everyone came together to be a part of ‘Mahashramdaan’. Bollywood’s Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan started a campaign called ‘Paani Foundation’ aiming to help the drought-affected areas in the state. And the latest one to join the campaign was ‘Raazi’ actress Alia Bhatt. Alia yesterday announced her involvement in the shramadaan this year and tweeted, “Tomorrow that is the 1st of May… I will be at a village in Marathwada, doing shramadaan with a shovel in my hands. What’s your plan? @paanifoundation @satyamevjayate @aamir_khan #PaaniFoundation.” While Aamir and Alia worked in Latur, Kiran Rao participated in Nashik district along with Satyajit Bhatkal, Anitha Date, among others.
Tomorrow that is the 1st of May.. I will be at a village in Marathwada, doing shramadaan with a shovel in my hands. What’s your plan? @paanifoundation @satyamevjayate @aamir_khan #PaaniFoundation 💫😇
— Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) April 30, 2018
Meanwhile, others who joined them were Sai Tamhankar, Ameya Wag and several Marathi actors at various locations in the state. Check out the pictures below:
आलिया भट आणि आमिर खान श्रमदान करत आहेत मराठवाड्यात #महाश्रमदान #महाराष्ट्रदिवस #दुष्काळाशीदोनहात @aliaa08 @aamir_khan @RajkumarHirani @satyamevjayate pic.twitter.com/kyxia0fptM
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) May 1, 2018
ज्येष्ठ कलाकार ज्योती सुभाष यांच्या स्फूर्तीला आमचा सलाम! #महाश्रमदान #महाराष्ट्रदिवस #तुफानआलया @GirishPKulkarni @amey_ameyjwagh @AmrutaSubash pic.twitter.com/hyaZUvluXs
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) May 1, 2018
जितेंद्र जोशी श्रमदान करत आहेत विदर्भात! #महाश्रमदान #महाराष्ट्रदिवस #दुष्काळाशीदोनहात @jitendrajoshi27 @GirishPKulkarni @getkul @satyamevjayate pic.twitter.com/X1sTZ1KsIY
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) May 1, 2018
सई ताम्हणकर श्रमदान करत आहेत पुरंदरला! #महाश्रमदान #महाराष्ट्रदिवस #दुष्काळाशीदोनहात @SaieTamhankar @GirishPKulkarni @jitendrajoshi27 @aamir_khan @satyamevjayate pic.twitter.com/yTIv2MK57b
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) May 1, 2018
सिने अभिनेते अनिता दाते, गिरीश कुलकर्णी, अमेय वाघ श्रमदानाला हजर! #महाश्रमदान #महाराष्ट्रदिन #दुष्काळाशीदोनहात @amey_ameyjwagh @GirishPKulkarni @anitadate31 @aamir_khan @satyamevjayate pic.twitter.com/Fq1PsckZmo
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) May 1, 2018
१ मे, महाश्रमदान अपडेट! १३२०० कुदळ + १३२०० फावडे + ३९६०० टोपली! म्हणजेच, ६६००० अवजारं महाराष्ट्रातील ७५ तालुक्यांमध्ये! pic.twitter.com/H7ApLqEiRx
— Paani Foundation (@paanifoundation) April 30, 2018
Talking about the campaign, Aamir started shramdaan in 2016 and asked city dwellers and villagers to come to villages and help the rural people. During the pilot year of the campaign about 1000 people participated in shramdaan and this year, more than one lakh from cities and more than 3-4 lakh people from villages are expected to come.
In the first two years, around 1,500 villages participated in the water Cup creating potential storage capacity of nearly 10,000 crore litre of water. In this, the third year of the competition, over 4,000 villages in 75 talukas and 24 districts of Maharashtra are participating. The top three prizes at the state level given to competing villages are Rs. 75 lakhs, Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 40 lakhs respectively. The top village in each taluka gets a prize of Rs. 10 lakhs. The competition runs from 8th April to 22nd May 2018.
The movement has steadily grown, and over the past two years, thousands of people in cities expressed the desire to contribute to this effort. To make it possible to volunteer and participate in different ways, Paani Foundation created the ‘Jalmitra’ – or ‘Friend of Water’ initiative, which it launched on World Water Day – 22nd March 2018. Anyone, anywhere in the world can be a Jalmitra by signing up on the link jalmitra.paanifoundation.in.