By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will lead the Nation in celebrating the 77th Independence Day from the iconic Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, 2023. He will unfurl the National Flag and deliver the customary address to the nation from the ramparts of the historic monument.
This year’s Independence Day will culminate the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, which were launched by the Prime Minister from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on March 12, 2021 and will, once again, usher the country into ‘Amrit Kaal’ with renewed vigour to realise Shri Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a developed country by 2047. A number of new initiatives have been taken to celebrate the 77th Independence Day. A large number of guests have been invited as compared to last year.
Special Guests
Around 1,800 people from different vocations, with their spouse, have been invited from across the country to be a part of the celebrations at Red Fort as Special Guests. The initiative has been taken in line with the Government’s vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’.
These Special Guests include over 400 Sarpanches of more than 660 vibrant villages; 250 from Farmer Producer Organisations scheme; 50 participants each of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme & Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana; 50 Shram Yogis (construction workers) of the Central Vista Project, including the New Parliament Building; 50 each Khadi workers, those involved in construction of border roads, making of Amrit Sarovar& Har Ghar Jal Yojana as well as 50 each primary school teachers, nurses and fishermen.Some of these Special Guests are scheduled to visit the National War Memorial and call on Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt as part of their stay in Delhi.Seventy five (75) couples from each State/Union Territory, in their traditional attire, have also been invited to witness the ceremony at Red Fort.
Selfie Points
Selfie points dedicated to different schemes & initiatives of the government have been installed at 12 locations, including National War Memorial, India Gate, Vijay Chowk, New Delhi Railway Station, Pragati Maidan, Raj Ghat, Jama Masjid Metro Station, Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, Delhi Gate Metro Station, ITO Metro Gate, Naubat Khana and Sheesh Ganj Gurudwara.
The schemes/initiatives include Global Hope: Vaccine & Yoga; Ujjwala Yojana; Space Power; Digital India; Skill India; Start-up India; Swachh Bharat; Sashakt Bharat, Naya Bharat; Powering India; Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission.
As part of the celebrations, an online selfie contest will be conducted by Ministry of Defence on MyGov portal from August 15-20. People are encouraged to take selfies at one or more of the 12 installations and upload them on MyGov platform to take part in the contest. Twelve winners, one from each installation, will be selected on the basis of the online selfie contest. The winners would be given prize money of Rs 10,000 each.
