Centre to celebrate Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday as 'Parakram Diwas'; PM to attend prog in Kolkata
New Delhi: Centre on Tuesday decided to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birthday on January 23 as ''Parakram Diwas'' every year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the first 'Parakram Diwas' programme in Kolkata on January 23 on Bose's 125th birth anniversary and will be inaugurating an exhibition at Victoria Memorial Hall and a couple of events at National Library Ground.
Culture and tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel announced the year-long programme and a Gazette Notification to this effect has been issued, the minister confirmed.
Meanwhile, on December 21, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to mark 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose grandly.
The Government of India has already constituted an 85-member High-Level Committee to decide on the activities for a one-year-long commemoration starting January 23, 2021. The committee is headed by PM Modi.
Along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, other senior ministers are also part of this committee. Seven Chief Ministers- including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik are part of this High-Level Committee.
Former Chief Minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is also a committee member. Further Lok Sabha members Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dilip Ghosh, Saumitra Khan, Raju Bista and Rajya Sabha members Sharad Pawar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Roopa Ganguly, Swapan Dasgupta are also there.
Interestingly, Suvendu Adhikari and Sunil Mondol, who recently joined the BJP, are also part of this High-Level Committee. Apart, government officials, ex-officials, ex-parliamentarians, INA freedom fighters, historians, authors, senior journalist, filmmakers, actors are also part of the think-tank.
Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, former Indian footballer Subrata Bhattacharya, author and academic Anirban Ganguli, music director and singer AR Rahman are also committee members.
"The 125th Birth Anniversary year of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be celebrated in a befitting manner at the national and international level... The committee will guide the commemoration activities in Delhi, Kolkata and other places associated with Netaji and Azad Hind Fauj, both in India as well as overseas," government declared.
200 Patua artists from West Bengal have already started making a painting on a 400-metre-long canvas depicting Bose's life at the National Library Ground. A permanent exhibition on Netaji and a Projection-Mapping Show will be inaugurated by PM Modi at Victoria Memorial Hall.
Moreover, the culture minister confirmed that a commemorative coin and postage stamp will also be released on this day. An International Conference 'Re-visiting the legacy of Netaji Subhas in the 21st century' and an Artists' Camp is being organized at National Library, Kolkata on the same day.
He further stated that the culture ministry will also be organising a programme at Netaji's birthplace in Cuttack. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in this programme, following another programme at Haripura in Gujarat, which also has a symbolic association with Bose.
Other ministries have also proposed to take up a large number of activities to commemorate this occasion. These activities will be carried out upon finalisation by the High-Level Committee. Tourism Ministry will be sponsoring this year the National Level indigenous games including Kabaddi tournament which has been organised for the last 37 years on Netaji's Birth Anniversary in Madhya Pradesh's Narshingpur District by the 'Sahyog Krida Mandal'.
Netaji Football Tournament and Marathons (D/o Sports), Pada Yatras and Cycle Yatras (D/o Youth Affairs), Webinar under "Dekho Apna Desh," Webinar on Netaji's life and incidents in Manipur (Ministry of Tourism), INA tune 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja' being included in the Beating Retreat Ceremony – 2021 (Ministry of Defence), etc.
Further, the civil aviation ministry has proposed to paint some of Air India's aircraft with Subhas Chandra Bose's images, especially the ones flying to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Rail ministry has proposed to name an express train after Netaji.
Education ministry proposes to establish 5 chairs on Netaji in 5 Indian Universities, organize online Lectures and Webinars on teachings of Netaji, etc.
National Film Development Corporation under I&B Ministry will organize a short-film competition on 'How to fulfil Netaji's dreams for India'. Doordarshan and All India Radio will host panel discussions, produce documentaries and other programmes on the life and times of Netaji.
Meanwhile, the government clarified that no decision over a national holiday has been taken so far. Further activities will be decided after the meeting with the committee members.
