Stage Set For 77th Independence Day: Prime Minister Modi To Lead Celebrations From Iconic Red Fort

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the nation in celebrating the 77th Independence Day from the iconic Red Fort in Delhi on 15 August 2023.

He will unfurl the national flag and deliver the customary address to the nation from the ramparts of the historic monument.

This year’s Independence Day will culminate the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, launched by the Prime Minister from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 12 March 2021 and will, once again, usher the country into ‘Amrit Kaal’ with renewed vigour to realise the dream of making India a developed country by 2047.

A remarkable number of guests have been invited this year, as compared to last year.

Special Guests

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.

The initiative has been taken in line with the government’s vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’.

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;

Additionally, 50 each from the section of Khadi workers, those involved in construction of border roads, making of Amrit Sarovar and Har Ghar Jal Yojana, as well as, 50 each from among primary school teachers, nurses and fishermen, are part of the special guests.

Seventy-five couples from each state/union territory, in their traditional attire, have also been invited to witness the ceremony at the Red Fort.

Selfie Points

Selfie points dedicated to different schemes and initiatives of the government have been installed at 12 locations — 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 Ministry of Defence on MyGov portal from 15-20 August. People are encouraged to take selfies at one or more of the 12 installations and upload them on 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.

The Ceremony

Upon his arrival at the Red Fort, the Prime Minister will be received by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt and Defence secretary Giridhar Aramane.

The Defence secretary will introduce the General Officer Commanding (GoC), Delhi Area, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth to the Prime Minister.

The Guard of Honour contingent for the Prime Minister will consist of one officer and 25 personnel each from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Delhi Police and one officer and 24 personnel from the Indian Navy.

The Indian Army is the coordinating service this year. The Guard of Honour will be commanded by Major Vikas Sangwan.

The Army contingent in the Prime Minister’s Guard will be commanded by Major Indrajeet Sachin, the Naval contingent by Lieutenant Commander MV Rahul Raman and the Air Force contingent by Squadron Leader Akash Ganghas. The Delhi Police contingent will be commanded by Additional DCP Sandhya Swami.

After inspecting the Guard of Honour, the Prime Minister will proceed to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he will be greeted by Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.

The GoC, Delhi area will conduct the Prime Minister to the dais on the ramparts to unfurl the national flag.

The Army band, consisting of one JCO and 20 other ranks, will play the national anthem during the unfurling of the national flag and presenting of the ‘Rashtriya Salute’. The band will be conducted by Naib Subedar Jatinder Singh.

Major Nikita Nair and Major Jasmine Kaur will assist the Prime Minister in unfurling the national flag. It will be synchronised with the 21-guns salute by the valiant gunners of the elite 8711 Field Battery (ceremonial).

The ceremonial battery will be commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Vikas Kumar and the Gun Position Officer will be Naib Subedar (AIG) Anoop Singh.

The National Flag Guard comprising five officers and 128 other ranks from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police will present Rashtriya Salute at the time of unfurling of the national flag by the Prime Minister.

Major Abhinav Detha from the Army will be in command of this inter-services guard and police guard.

The Army contingent in the National Flag Guard will be commanded by Major Mukesh Kumar Singh, the Naval contingent by Lieutenant Commander Harpreet Mann and the Air Force contingent by Squadron Leader Shrey Chawdhary. The Delhi Police contingent will be commanded by Additional DCP Shashank Jaiswal.

As soon as the national flag is unfurled by the Prime Minister, flower petals will be showered at the venue by two advanced light helicopters Mark-III Dhruv of the Indian Air Force in the line astern formation.

The captains of the helicopter will be Wing Commander Amber Agarwal and Squadron Leader Himanshu Sharma.

After the showering of flower petals, the Prime Minister will address the nation. At the conclusion of the speech of the Prime Minister, the cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC) will sing the National Anthem.

One thousand, one hundred boy and girl NCC cadets (Army, Navy and Air Force) from different schools across the country will take part in this festival of national fervour.

Bleachers have been installed at the Gyanpath, on which the cadets would be seated in official white dress.

In addition, NCC cadets in uniform will be seated at the Gyanpath 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.