(This story originally appeared in on Oct 11, 2016)

Adhiraj Thakur, a student of the Navy Children School in Colaba, has collected Rs 80,000 so far and secured funding pledges from friends and relatives who have agreed to pay school and private tuition fees.The 16-year-old said he was well aware of the uncertainty that army families lived in and he wanted to help the martyred jawans' kin in whatever capacity he can.Nineteen soldiers, including four from Maharashtra, were killed when Pakistani militants attacked an army camp near Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18.“I was very disturbed when I learned about the incident. I have spent many sleepless nights worrying about my father and I can imagine what the soldiers' families went through when they first heard about the attack,“ said Adhiraj, whose father Ashish Thakur is a colonel and a Shaurya Chakra awardee. Adhiraj started a WhatsApp group to raise funds for the soldiers' children.Some of the children are too young to attend school right now, so he has persuaded people to commit to sponsor their education whenever they enrol.Some donors have agreed to pay for college fees, while some others have offered to fund education till Std XII. “I was really surprised as many people expressed their wish to contribute,“ Adhiraj said.The children of Chandrakant Galande from Satara and Vikas Kulmete from Yavatmal , who were killed in the Uri attack, will benefit from his efforts.The two kids are currently only 10 months old.“It is difficult to come to terms with everything but we are proud of him and his service,“ said Galande's wife, Nisha.Another soldier's young son is a Std XII science student in Jammu. The Colaba teen is raising funds for his private tuition, and plans to travel to Jammu to give the cheques to the families there.“The families will receive compensation from the government, but my efforts are aimed at conveying the message that the nation cares about their contribution and sacrifice,“ Adhiraj said.Adhiraj has stayed in different parts of the country because of his father's postings. He has changed 14 schools because of the travelling. “This is the life of an army family,“ he said.