'Rakesh' The Dog Who Featured In PM Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' Address Dies At The Age Of Five, Buried With Full Honours By PAC

'Rakesh' the PAC dog who was seen in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest 'Mann Ki Baat' address passed away on Tuesday. He has been buried with full honours by the PAC personnel. Know more here.

Screen Grab: Youtube/@BJP4India

Meerut: 'Rakesh' the PAC dog who was seen in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest 'Mann Ki Baat' address, succumbed to his liver and kidney infection on Tuesday.  The dog passed away on Tuesday at the age of five and has been buried with full honours by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel. In his latest address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his happiness seeing people take care of others with warm clothes in the difficult conditions of the winter season including stray animals. "I feel happy seeing people are concerned about the needy around them, they help them with warm clothes. Winters are a tough time for stray animals also. Many people come forward to help them as well. Our young generation is quite active in such activities," he had said. The dog was named Rakesh after a tea stall owner who was sheltering the dog for some time. The canine was left all alone when his caretaker had to go back home post the first lockdown, PAC officials then started taking care of him. Aziz-ur-Rehman Khan, head constable, said, "A tea stall owner Rakesh, used to take care of the stray dog. However, he went back to his hometown after the first lockdown due to Covid-19, leaving the dog behind." Over the months, all the trainee jawans, constables and head constables grew fond of the stray dog and named him 'Rakesh'. However, he recently took ill and was unable to recover from his ailment. Back in August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a special mention to dogs for their contribution in helping the Indian Army in foiling nefarious plans of notorious elements by finding explosives like grenades and IEDs. He also talked about their role in disaster management - how they are trained to find people who are stuck in buildings or under debris at the time of a disaster, thereby saving lives. He had urged people to go 'Aatmanirbhar' and opt for adopting local breeds so that it helps these equally capable canines find a home. WATCH | Will hold discussions with farmers' leaders tomorrow: Narendra Singh Tomar