Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off the 'Amrit Kalash Yatra' to New Delhi on Saturday.
Pradhan flagged off a special train at the Bhubaneswar station, in which about 1,600 volunteers with soil collected from 13,250 villages of Odisha will reach the national capital, as part of the 'Meri Mati, Mera Desh' programme.
Soil collected from more than 7,000 blocks in 766 districts of the country will be placed at the 'Amrit Vatika', a new monument to be built near the National War Memorial in New Delhi, as part of the campaign.
Pradhan along with party MPs Pratap Sarangi and Aparajita Sarangi, and BJP state president Manmohan Samal came to the railway station in a procession from the state BJP headquarters.
'Today is a lucky day for all of us. At the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the campaign of collecting soil from the villages, cities and panchayats is reaching towards its conclusion,' the minister said.
The train will reach New Delhi on Sunday, after which these 1,600 volunteers will join more than 20,000 'Amrit Kalash Yatris' from other states and Union Territories to participate in a two-day programme at Kartavya Path and Vijay Chowk on October 30-31.
Prime Minister Modi is slated to address the programme on October 31, remembering the bravehearts who laid down their lives for India.
It will mark the culmination of the two-year-long 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', which began on March 12, 2021 to celebrate 75 years of India's Independence.