Chief Minister hoists national flag on I-Day

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hoisted the national flag on the 70th Independence Day at a programme on Red Road on Monday. The colourful programme on Red Road had been the centre of attraction on Monday where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the Chief Minister hoisting the flag followed by a medal giving ceremony and tabloids displaying the projects taken up by the state government parades through Red Road. The programme began with the national anthem followed by hoisting of the flag.

After the flag hoisting, Banerjee honoured eight IPS officers and two other senior police officers with Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Outstanding Services and Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Commendable Services.

Sanjoy Mukherjee, DG (Fire), Ajey Mukund Ranade, IGP (South Bengal) and Vishal Garg, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Task Force) received the Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Outstanding Services. Subrata Kumar Mitra, DIG (Presidency Range), Shankha Subhra Chakraborty, Officer on Special Duty in Chief Minister’s Office and Dip Narayan Goswami, Deputy Commissioner (Security) of the Special Branch has got Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Commendable Services.

Santanu Sinha Biswas, Officer-in-charge of Kalighat Police Station has also received Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Commendable Services.

Soon after the medal giving ceremony, personnel of different agencies including that of Kolkata Police and State Fire and Emergency Services department marched passed the Red Road at the tune of the Kolkata Police band.

Hundreds of school students dressed in colourful clothes had also performed on Red Road during the Independence Day programme. Soon after the school children left the place, tribal dance troops performed in front of the people who cheered for each and every performance.

Tabloids displaying projects of the state government including Kanyashree, Sabuj Sathi, Sukanya and Khadya sathi passed the area. There were tabloid of different departments including that of the state forest department and fisheries department were also centre of the attraction.

Independence Day was celebrated across the state. Cultural programmes and football tournaments were organised by different organisations and clubs to mark the day. Flags were hoisted in schools and colleges. School goers were found going to their schools clad in school uniforms in morning to attend flag hoisting programmes.

Meanwhile, the officers of the Special Security Wing (SSW) commandos, who had rescued all five persons in a car escorting President Pranab Mukherjee when it fell into a gorge near Sonada while returning from Darjeeling, will be honoured in a prorgramme – “Jai Ho” of the Kolkata Police on August 19.