PM Modi to lead 80th I-Day celebrations
New Delhi, Aug 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the 80th Independence Day celebrations from the Red Fort on August 15, with the Centre commemorating 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram and introducing its rendition as part of the official Red Fort ceremony for the first time.
The celebrations will be centred on the themes of “150 Years of Vande Mataram” and “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047”, highlighting the contribution of youth towards India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister will be received at the Red Fort by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The Defence Secretary will introduce General Officer Commanding (GoC), Delhi Area, Lieutenant General Rajesh Sethi, who will escort the Prime Minister to the saluting base where a combined Inter-Services and Delhi Police Guard will present a general salute. The Prime Minister will then inspect the Guard of Honour.
The Guard of Honour contingent will comprise one officer and 24 personnel each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. Lieutenant Colonel Arjun Singh will command the Guard of Honour. The Army contingent will be led by Major Aditya Sharma, the Naval contingent by Lieutenant Commander Neelam Rana, the Air Force contingent by Squadron Leader Vipin Kumar and the Delhi Police contingent by Additional DCP Vineet Kumar.
Following the inspection, the Prime Minister will proceed to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he will be greeted by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, MoS Defence Sanjay Seth, Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth before being escorted to the dais for the flag-hoisting ceremony.
Captain Sonia Singh Chauhan will assist the Prime Minister in hoisting the National Flag. The unfurling of the Tricolour will be synchronised with a 21-gun salute by the 1721 Field Battery (Ceremonial), commanded by Major Pawan Singh Shekhawat. The salute will be delivered using indigenous 105mm Light Field Guns, while Naib Subedar Anuthosh Sarkar will serve as the Gun Position Officer.
The National Flag Guard, comprising one officer and 32 personnel each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police, will present the Rashtriya Salute during the flag-hoisting ceremony. Major Lokendra Singh Shekhawat will command the inter-services and police guard. Major Vikas Yadav will lead the Army contingent, Lieutenant Commander Abhilash the Naval contingent, Squadron Leader Umesh G the Air Force contingent and Additional DCP Vikas Meena the Delhi Police contingent.
Immediately after the National Flag is hoisted, the Army band comprising one Junior Commissioned Officer and 25 other ranks will play the tune of Vande Mataram, conducted by Subedar Ishwar Singh. For the first time, the national song will be sung by all those present at the Red Fort as part of the Independence Day ceremony. This will be followed by the National Anthem.
The ceremony will also feature a floral tribute from the skies. Two Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force will shower flower petals over the venue as soon as the National Flag is unfurled. One helicopter will carry the national flag while the other will display a flag depicting Vande Mataram. The helicopters will be piloted by Wing Commander Rajat and Squadron Leader Ankit Varshney.
Prime Minister Modi will then address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
At the conclusion of his speech, 2,500 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets and ‘My Bharat’ volunteers will sing Vande Mataram followed by the National Anthem. The participants, comprising boys and girls from Army, Navy and Air Force wings of the NCC along with My Bharat volunteers, will be seated on Gyanpath opposite the ramparts. They will form the words “वंदे मातरम्”, while installations depicting the theme “Viksit Bharat @2047” will also be displayed.
Around 5,000 special guests from diverse backgrounds have been invited to witness the celebrations. The invitees include International Yoga Day volunteers, women entrepreneurs under PM Mudra Yojana, beneficiaries of NAMASTE, PM AJAY and SEED schemes, outstanding My Bharat volunteers, top-performing PMAY(U) beneficiaries, PM SVANidhi street vendors, sanitation workers under Swachh Bharat Mission, Delhi Metro employees, workers associated with Kartavya Path and Central Vista projects, youth innovators, scientists, Bharat Taxi drivers, interns under the Prime Minister Internship Scheme, start-up founders supported under government schemes, PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana trainees, hospital support staff, PM Surya Ghar beneficiaries, PM Vishwakarma artisans, beneficiaries of PM Shram Yogi Maandhan, successful farmers under PM Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana and high-performing students from Delhi government schools.
More than 1,500 people from various States and Union Territories dressed in traditional attire have also been invited to attend the national event.
The Ministry of Defence said extensive arrangements have been made for public convenience. Twenty-five cloak rooms have been established at six locations following positive feedback during Republic Day celebrations. Around 200 volunteers, including 100 NCC cadets and 100 My Bharat volunteers, will assist visitors in reaching their designated enclosures. Wheelchair assistance will be available at metro stations and parking areas.
Metro services will commence from 4 a.m. on August 15, and travel will be free for invitees through QR-code-enabled e-invitations. Parking facilities have been arranged at Parade Ground, while stronger ramps and stairways have been installed to facilitate pedestrian movement between upper and lower Subhash Marg. Traffic restrictions will be available through Google and Mappls Maps on the day of the event. Rain ponchos will also be distributed to invitees in view of possible inclement weather.
Continuing a practice introduced earlier this year to move away from VIP culture, the seating enclosures have been named after major lakes across the country instead of using VIP designations. The enclosures include names such as Wular, Pangong Tso, Chilika, Loktak, Vembanad, Pulicat, Pushkar, Kankaria, Hussain Sagar, Lonar and Chandratal among others.
Authorities have also undertaken extensive drainage and sewage cleaning in and around the Red Fort to prevent water overflow in the event of rainfall during the ceremony.
A post-event Swachhata campaign involving NCC cadets and My Bharat volunteers will be conducted immediately after the celebrations to ensure systematic plogging and prompt removal of waste from the venue.
As part of the nationwide celebrations, military, paramilitary and police bands are performing at 343 prominent locations across the country. Participating organisations include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NCC, CRPF, ITBP, CISF, SSB, BSF, Integrated Defence Staff, Railway Protection Force and Assam Rifles. These performances are open to the public.
Flag-hoisting ceremonies will also be conducted by the Indian Navy and local administrations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
In the run-up to Independence Day, the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with MyGov, organised an essay competition on the role of Artificial Intelligence in building Viksit Bharat by 2047, a painting competition on “India 1947 vs India 2047”, and several online quizzes on the Constitution, women in the freedom movement, technological milestones and India’s achievements in nuclear and space technology.
Around 600 winners of these competitions will attend the celebrations. Additional activities were organised by the Delhi Government and Delhi Police, including Tiranga-themed campaigns, cultural programmes, debates, essay contests, poster-making competitions, street plays, cyber awareness drives, programmes on women’s safety and anti-drug campaigns.
The Ministry said this year’s Independence Day celebrations are designed to blend patriotic tradition with citizen participation while paying tribute to the legacy of Vande Mataram on the 150th anniversary of the national song.
