Since the time republic of India came into its very being more than seven decades ago, every year has been rung loud and clear with a sense of accomplishment on the ‘kartavya path’ (erstwhile Rajpath) encompassing the abiding mantra or guiding principle set forth by the government of the day for the country to follow in its entirety. This year of 2025 off course has a special meaning to the republic day parade that has been embellished with twin populist measures viz ‘75 years of enactment of Indian constitution’ and ‘Janbhagidhari’ or mass participation in governance. This unique blending of twin facets of democratic functioning places our country in the league of leading democratic dispensations of the world.
Recent years our country has been witness to ringing almost all festivals of national importance tagged with an abiding ‘Theme’ which acts as a prime mover for affording a definite direction and range for executing works related to such themes. Thus setting the stage for the nation to accomplish these themes with a ‘mission mode’. If Last year republic day parade was tagged with the theme- ‘ Bharat –The mother of democracy’ then this year a more definite thematic appreciation is being done in the form of above mentioned twin populist measures .
To make these above mentioned twin measures more realistic for the onlookers seated on the ‘Kartavya path’ two tableaux during the parade will showcase the celebration of 75 years of constitution. Floral decorations and view cutters will be depicting the theme. Balloons at the end of the program will be released with the banner of this message. In fact quiz and essay competitions associated with this theme were already held on MyGov website. Since Modi government has made “Minimum government & maximum governance” as its abiding mantra, the same is being showcased as the government’s ‘Sine quo non’. And what better platform as well as international cum national audience to lend their eyes and ears to than the republic day parade held on 26th January every year.
President of the republic of Indonesia Mr Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest at the parade this year. By inviting the Indonesian president as the chief guest on the national day, India has been able to send multiple signals across the world laced with subtle geo-political undertones. Firstly India has tried to woo the largest Muslim nation (by population) in its fold as also tried to renew its ‘Look east policy’ with Bangladesh playing truant to India’s aspirations. More over India has tried to rewind the historical clock of ties between the two founding fathers of the NAM (Non Aligned Movement), when in the first ever republic day parade in 1950 our first PM Mr Nehru shared dais with the President Mr Sukarno who was one of the chief protagonists of NAM along with Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia during the height of the cold war era.
The highlight of this year’s parade will be the participation of 160 member marching contingent as well as 190 member of Band contingent from Indonesia. Thus Signifying further cementing of ties between the two age old countries that has withstood the rough and tumble of world’s geo-political tangle.
This year, 31 tableaux from various states, union territories & central government ministries / departments will participate show casing the main theme ‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasataurvikas’. After the national anthem , balloons with banners of the official logo of the 75 th year of the Indian constitution will be released . The event will conclude with a fly-past by 47 aircraft. To facilitate citizens and ease in information and getting access to witness the various events on this republic day-2025, booking tickets, getting location of the seating and parking arrangements etc, a comprehensive mobile app (on apple play store and Msewa) and portal ‘Rashtraparv portal’ has been developed and will serve as a focus point for all the details relating to events of this national day.
Free metro ride will be provided to invitees/ ticket holders of RDP-2025 at entry point of the metro stations across Delhi. Parking spaces of Delhi metro across the capital will be opened on chargeable basis at regular rates. Park & ride scheme will be implemented this year on experimental basis under which, invitees will park their vehicles at Palika parking, Connaught place and JN Stadium’s parking area from where they use the ferry services (pick and drop) through the hired DTC buses. Laying special emphasis on ‘Jan bhagidhari’ , special guests from different walks of life are being invited as government’s special guests to witness the event . These guests are achievers and best performers in their respective fields and are architects of ‘Swarnim Bharat’.
For RDP-2025, approximately 10,000 special guests in 34 categories including the sarpanches from villages excelling in key government schemes have been invited. Never ever in the history of independent India such a humongous & mass participation of grass root level officials is being undertaken. The categories of these grass root level workers / officials can be as diverse as one could think of—ranging from village sarpanches, disaster relief workers, guests from vibrant village programme, primary agricultural credit societies, SHG members, trainees of DGT under national skill development corporation ( NSDC), forest and wildlife conservation workers, handloom artisans, ASHA workers , PM Surya gharyojna etc the list is an endless who’s who of those unsung heroes who though a small cog in the entire democratic machinery of India , are nonetheless indispensible.
As if the above is not enough, to make the RDP-2025 more inclusive in nature Delhi based couples from each state/ UT dressed in their traditional dresses are also being invited to witness this parade. For the first time 2000 winners of different online competitions being organized by the MOD in collaboration with Mygov and All India radio are being invited for this august parade. On the sidelines of RDP-2025 Various other programmes of national importance are being heralded for the first time viz national school band competition in which more than 697 school bands are taking part . The finalists of this school band competition are being invited as special guests to witness the republic day parade.
Among the finalists team, one girls’ team of Jharkhand will be performing in front of the presidential dais and two teams will be performing with the republic day parade at Kartavya path near Vijay Chowk. All these events either conducted on the sidelines of the republic day parade or on 26th January itself shows the seminal commitment of the government to take the common masses to the event rather than showcase it as an exclusive event with a select few hogging the lime light. A true optimizing of talents of the masses and affording them the platform to showcase their USPs. A national day of importance as that of republic day of one of the largest democracies of the world has something for everyone this year.
With 75 years down the line of democratic working , India has been truly encapsulating the essence of ‘Jan bhagidhari’ when the world sees a mass of humanity congregating on the national capital premises on 26th January partaking in its constitutionalizing of existence so painstakingly preserved for future generations.
(The writer is a retired army officer and a regular scribe of Rising Kashmir. He can be approached on his email…[email protected])
