Special guests at I-Day celebration to include labourers, farmers, teachers

New Delhi: Teachers, nurses, labourers, farmers, and construction workers have all been invited as special guests to the Independence Day celebration.

"Around 1,800 people from different vocations, with their spouses, have been invited from across the country to be a part of the celebrations at Red Fort as special guests, on Independence Day. The initiative has been taken in line with the government’s vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’," Defence Ministry officials said.

The defence ministry said that 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 and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and 50 Shram Yogis (construction workers) of the Central Vista Project, including the New Parliament Building.

"Besides these guests, those involved in the construction of border roads, making of Amrit Sarovar and Har Ghar Jal Yojana as well as 50 each primary school teachers, nurses and fishermen will also be the special guests. Seventy-five couples from each State/Union Territory, in their traditional attire, have also been invited to witness the ceremony at Red Fort," the defence ministry added.

According to the ministry, selfie points dedicated to different schemes and 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.

As part of the celebrations, an online selfie contest will be conducted by the defence ministry on the MyGov portal from August 15-20. People are encouraged to take selfies at one or more of the 12 installations and upload them on the 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.

In addition, NCC cadets in uniform will be seated at the Gyan Path as part of the celebrations. Another highlight would be the G-20 logo, which will be part of the floral decorations at the Red Fort.

This year’s Independence Day will culminate the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, which were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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 PM’s dream of making India a developed country by 2047. A number of new initiatives have been taken to celebrate the upcoming Independence Day. A large number of guests have been invited as compared to last year.

With inputs from IANS