From Village Heads to Central Vista Workers, 'Special Guests' Attend 77th I-Day Celebrations at Red Fort

From village heads to construction workers employed for the Central Vista project, around 1,800 ‘special guests’ on Tuesday attended the 77th Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort here.

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the contribution of workers, labourers and grocery vendors in nation-building.

“Today we have demography, democracy, diversity, and this ‘Triveni’ (three factors) has the potential to make every dream of India come true,” he said.

These special guests included over 400 sarpanches of more than 660 vibrant villages; 250 from the farmer-producer organisations scheme; 50 participants each of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme and the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

Fifty ‘shram yogis (construction workers)’ of the Central Vista project, including the new Parliament building; 50 khadi workers, those involved in the construction of border roads, making of Amrit Sarovars and Har Ghar Jal Yojana each, as well as 50 primary school teachers, nurses and fisherfolk each.

Rahul Sofat, a lecturer of maths at Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute, Subroto Park in Delhi, was among the special invitees. “I thank the CBSE, MoE (Ministry of Education), PMO, who gave us this opportunity to come here as special invitees for the Independence Day celebrations. We were able to see the PM so close that we almost shook hands with him. This is my first time at Red Fort celebrations… About 25 teachers have come from CBSE,” he told PTI soon after the ceremony ended. “It will be enriched in our memory forever,” an elated Sofat said.

His wife, Nishi, accompanied him and expressed delight at being a part of the August event.

“Being a teacher’s wife is an honour. First time, I am seeing such an honour being given to teachers. It was a very good experience,” she said.

Later, the group of teachers along with their spouses in matching saree, also gathered for a group picture.

PM Modi in his address also urged fellow citizens not to lose the opportunity to realise the country’s potential as the decisions and sacrifices made in this period will impact the country for the next 1,000 years.

The invitation to the about 1,800 special guests was extended in line with the government’s vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’, the defence ministry has said.

Sarita Rawat, a sarpanch from Uttarakhand said, “I was happy when my village was included among the vibrant villages. I have worked hard for four years to achieve this feat. It was a proud moment for me to be invited to the event as a special guest”.

The government approved ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ (VVP) as a centrally-sponsored scheme on February 15 for the comprehensive development of the select villages in 46 blocks in 19 districts abutting the northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Union Territory of Ladakh.

Besides, NCC cadets who took part in the celebrations, sat in a neat formation of rows and columns, wearing matching white uniforms.

“We were so happy to see our PM from up close, and also shook hands with him,” Vandana Kumari, 19, a cadet from Delhi, told PTI.

The children chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” as Modi moved around some of the children and waved at the group.

“I was told by my parents that PM Modi might come and meet us but I wasn’t sure. When he finally came to meet us after his speech, we were all floored,” said Shruti Jain, beaming with pride and excitement.

Bleachers were installed at the Gyan Path, on which the cadets were seated in their official white dress.

Another highlight of the programme was the G20 logo, part of the floral decorations at the Red Fort.