79-year-old NRI to walk from Kanyakumari to Delhi for fundraising

London: A 79-year-old UK-based Indian plans to undertake a challenging task of walking 4,160-km from Kanyakumari to Delhi to raise 1.5 million pounds for charity.

Bobby Grewal, chairman of the India Association since 2001, would commence the five-month long walk on December 1 from Kanyakumari and reach Delhi on April 30 next year.

"The amount raised will be donated to the charity Save Children International," he said at the annual Baisakhi dinner of the India Association here last night.

Grewal had in the past undertaken a charity walk from Amritsar to Kanyakumari and raised over 100,000 pounds for charity.

"With this walk I will be completing the full circle (of India)," he said.

He would be accompanied by a single support vehicle and a team of four, consisting of a walk manager, a driver, a physiotherapist and a chef. Earlier, he had walked from Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to Parliament in London in 2008 and raised 250,000 pounds for charity.

S S Sidhu, minister coordination in the Indian High Commission appreciated NRIs celebrating Indian festivals and combining their efforts to raise funds for charity. Surjit Sandhu of the India Association said he would accompany Grewal during the marathon walk in India.