Shah unveils Sardar Patel’s statue; launches app for civil registration

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Tuesday unveiled a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Census Building in New Delhi on Tuesday.

It was accompanied by the launch of the new Civil Registration System (CRS) mobile application, developed to provide for more efficient registration and reporting of birth and death events across the nation.

“He was an Iron Man who gave shape to democratic values and laid down the foundation of a resilient India. The new statue has become an abiding symbol of Patel’s service to national causes and an inspiration to all,” he said in a post on X.

In another post on X, Shah praised the CRS mobile app as an important step toward realising PM Narendra Modi’s vision of digital India. This initiative leverages technology to make governance more accessible and user-friendly, he noted.

The app enables citizens to register births and deaths from any location, at any time, and in their state’s official language. This is an application that will save citizens a considerable amount of time in registration.

It is a new dimension wherein digital tools are being applied to public services, which makes it streamlined and accessible to its citizens and advances India’s agenda on digital transformation.

In the morning, while flagging off the ‘Run for Unity’, Shah said Patel’s birth anniversary is normally organised on the day of his birth, October 31, but this year, it was organised two days ahead as Deepawali is falling on that day.

He said it was because of Sardar Patel that the Lakshadweep Islands, Junagarh, Hyderabad and all other princely states were merged with India.

“But there were efforts to erase and undermine the enormous contribution of Sardar Patel to the country. He was also deprived of Bharat Ratna for a long time,” Shah said.

Patel was born on October 31, 1875, at Nadiad in Gujarat.

The Modi government has been observing October 31 as ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ or National Unity Day since 2014 to foster and reinforce its dedication to preserving and strengthening the unity, integrity and security of the nation. “The prime minister has put forth before all countrymen the pledge to build a fully developed India by 2047, which would be at the top of the ladder in every field in the world,” he said.

As India’s first home minister and deputy Prime Minister, Patel is credited for the merger of over 550 princely states into the Union of India.

Various programmes recalling Sardar Patel’s contribution to unifying India are being organised as part of the National

Unity Day celebrations.

Last week, Shah announced that the government would commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with a two-year-long nationwide programme from 2024 to 2026 to honour his monumental contribution to the country.