Uttarakhand govt gears up for October 31 unity march under Sardar@150 Campaign

The Uttarakhand government will hold multiple programs across the state on October 31 to commemorate the proposed Unity March under Central government-initiated nationwide campaign Sardar@150.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday directed all district magistrates to finalise action plans to take the message of works done by the first home minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to keep India united to every nook and corner of the state.

Advertisement

In a virtual meeting, the chief minister asked the district magistrates and senior government officials to prepare a detailed action plan for making the proposed nationwide Unity March a success. He directed them to ensure that cultural and public awareness programs are held in a big way at schools and colleges. Apart from this, he asked district magistrates to ascertain active participation of the youths, women, local bodies, NCC, Self-Help Groups, public representatives and social organisations in the state.

The chief minister said the objective of the Sardar@150 Campaign is to take the message of national unity to every household and work done to the late home minister for keeping the country united. He said, “Gram programs must be held to convey the contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his resolve for ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Best India) to the masses. Celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel must be historic inspiration for the youths in terms of his contributions to the nation and the ideals he lived for. Sardar Patel brought up India into a strong nation with his indomitable courage and strong resolutions.”

“Sardar Patel laid the foundation of ‘One India’ by integrating princely states of India. It’s his efforts that helped India come up as an indivisible and unified nation. Patel’s diplomacy and vision had a major contribution to the history of independent India. His views for India continue to inspire the country towards unity and harmony to build a strong India even today” said Dhami.

The Unity March as envisioned by the Centre will be held over three days starting from October 31. It will include a foot march of eight to ten kilometers to be participated by the people in Uttarakhand. A select group of people, two each from a district, will be allowed to take part in the 152 kilometers national foot march to be held from November 26 to December 6. The national foot march will be taken out from Sardar Patel’s birthplace Karamsad to his statue of Unity at Kevadia.