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“After Independence, a transformational project of the country is being done under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for the first time. A project that no other government had imagined is being developed,” Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said during the inaugural event of the Kartavya Path in Delhi on Thursday.
He added, “The Kartavya Path is the heart of the national capital. We are going to write the history of India’s growth story.” He also remarked that the unveiling of the Subhas Chandra Bose statue is symbolic in that we will always draw inspiration on deshbhakti (patriotism) from it.
Besides Puri, Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy, Ministers of State for Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Meenakshi Lekhi, MoS, Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore, were present on the dais alongside the PM.
The jet-black granite statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which was unveiled by the Prime Minister at the event, measures 28 ft. and is placed under the Grand Canopy near India Gate. The statue has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 MT. After 26,000 man hours of intense artistic endeavour, the granite monolith was chiseled to produce a statue weighing 65 MT. The statue is completely hand sculpted using traditional techniques and modern tools. The team of sculptors for executing the statue was led by Arun Yogiraj.
The statue has been installed in the same place where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled earlier this year on Parakram Diwas (January 23) by the PM to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.
The Prime Minister’s arrival at the canopy for the unveiling of the statue of Netaji was heralded with traditional Manipuri Shankh Vadayam and Kerala’s traditional Panch Vadayam and Chanda. The unveiling of the statue was accompanied by the tune of Kadam Kadam Badhaye jaa, the traditional INA song.
To demonstrate the spirit of Ek Bharat – Shrestra Bharat and Unity in Diversity, a cultural festival by 500 dancers drawn from all parts of the country, was showcased. The glimpse of the same was shown to the Prime Minister on the step Amphitheatre near India Gate by around 30 artists who performed tribal folk-art forms such as Sambalpuri, Panthi, Kalbelia, Kargam and Drums.
Mangalgaan penned by Padma Bhushan Pt. Shrikrishna Ratanjankarji on the occasion of 1st Independence Day of India in 1947 was presented by Pt. Suhas Vashi along with a team of singers and musicians.
The festival commenced at 08.45 pm after the main function and will also continue till September 11, 2022, from 7 pm to 9 pm. A special 10-minute drone show on Netaji’s life would be projected at India Gate at 8 pm on September 9-11, 2022. Both the cultural festival and the drone show would be open to public with free entry.
Over the years, Rajpath and adjoining areas of the Central Vista Avenue had been witnessing pressure of increasing traffic of visitors, putting stress on its infrastructure. It lacked basic amenities like public toilets, drinking water, street furniture and adequate parking space, said PMO in a statement. There was inadequate signage, poor maintenance of water features and haphazard parking. Also, a need was felt to organise the Republic Day parade and other National events less disruptively with minimal restrictions on public movement, the ministry statement said.
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