Report by India Education bureau, New Delhi: A national painting competitions for schools having a unique theme – Magic of Hands—and with total prize money of Rs. 10 lakhs has got a big endorsement from UPA Chairperson, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

While releasing the competition brochure here at her residence on Monday, Mrs. Gandhi hoped that it would send out a good message to the students to create the awareness about the use of hands.

The painting competition, which has Rs. 5 Lakh for the school of the winner, Rs 20,000 for the winning student and Rs 10,000 each to 49 finalists, is being held in connection with the forthcoming 12th Triennial Congress of International Federation of Societies for Surgery of Hand (IFSSH) and the 9th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), scheduled from March 4 – 8 in Delhi.

In a meeting with office-bearers of the Conference organizing committee, Dr. S. Raja Sabapathy and Dr. Rakesh Khazanchi, Mrs. Gandhi also conveyed her wishes for the event. She also enquired in detail about the competition and its terms & conditions.

 “We are happy that the painting competition is getting support from different quarters. Mrs. Gandhi was so keen to learn about the competition with such a unique theme, to which nobody gives due attention,” said Dr. Sabapathy, Head, Dept of Plastic, Hand & Reconstructive Microsurgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He is the Chairman of the IFSSH-IFSHT 2013 Congress Committee.

“The painting competition has already raked in good response from across the country. It is an attempt to create awareness among students about the magical powers of hands,” said Dr. Khazanchi, Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon. He is also the Secretary of the IFSSH- IFSHT 2013 Congress Committee.

As the theme says, the subject of the painting can be anything magical prowess of hand---from a mother’s hand gently patting the child, a soldier’s strong hands with a gun in the border, the mudras of a dancer, and so on.

This competition is open for students of classes 6 to 9. A maximum of 20 students are invited to participate from one school. The students also need to give a title to their painting by penning a few lines about what made them draw it. The last date for submission of entries is February 12.

Top 50 paintings will be selected by a panel of eminent judges. This will be communicated to the winners by 15th of February. The shortlisted students will then need to attend an authentication camp where they have to reproduce their paintings. These 50 paintings will be published in a book, entitled ‘Magic of Hands’, along with the title and names of the artists and their schools.