I-Day: Indian Olympic contingent, BRO workers, Lakhpati Didi beneficiaries among 6,000 guests

New Delhi: The Indian contingent from the Paris Olympics, student beneficiaries from the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), workers of the Border Roads Organisation and sarpanches were among the 6,000 special guests who attended the 78th Independence Day celebrations here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in marking the day as he unfurled the national flag and addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi along with NDA allies, including LJP's Chirag Paswan, JDU's Lalan Singh, were among those present.

Those sitting in the front row included Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Amit Shah and S Jaishankar.

The theme of this year's Independence Day is 'Viksit Bharat @ 2047'. The gathering comprised people from different walks of life, categorised as youth, tribal community, farmers, women and other special guests, who have excelled in various fields with the help of various government schemes/initiatives.

Students benefiting from the Atal Innovation Mission and PM SHRI (Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India) scheme, and volunteers of the Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) and National Service Scheme under 'Meri Maati Mera Desh' attended the event.

The invited guests also included tribal artisans, 'Van Dhan Vikas' members and tribal entrepreneurs funded by National Scheduled Tribes Finance & Development Corporation and beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and representatives of farmers producing organisations.

Accredited social health activists (ASHA), auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) and anganwadi workers; elected women representatives; beneficiaries of Sankalp: Hub for Empowerment of Women, Lakhpati Didi and Drone Didi initiatives and Sakhi Kendra scheme; and workers of Child Welfare Committees and district child protection units also witnessed the ceremony.

One guest from each block of the aspirational blocks programme, workers of the Border Roads Organisation, students from PRERANA School programme, and sarpanches of panchayats which achieved saturation in priority sector schemes were there as well.

The gathering comprised nearly 2,000 people from various states and union territories dressed in their traditional attire also attended the grand ceremony.

Besides, 3,000 winners of different online competitions, organised by the Defence Ministry in collaboration with MyGov and Akashvani, were part of the celebrations.

A total of 2,000 boy and girl cadets (from Army, Navy and Air Force wings) of the NCC from different schools across the country participated in the celebrations. These cadets were seated on Gyanpath, opposite the ramparts.

They formed 'My Bharat' logo with customised tricolour kits. A total of 500 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers also took part.