Amidst the ongoing ruckus in Parliament, since it resumed its Budget Session on March 8, there has been near washout for the last two days. Today, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi and Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal informed all floor leaders in a meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker of the government initiative that the Prime Minister would make an announcement on India’s 75th year of independence celebrations. All parties agreed to it, except Congress.

Joshi informed the House when it resumed around 12.30 pm that as the celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ begins on March 12, PM Modi would like to give a statement in the Lok Sabha and it was important that it be done in a peaceful manner.

However, Congress continued its disruptive tactics. They were requested for a second time to allow peaceful proceedings for just 5 minutes so that a statement can be given by the PM. But they did not relent.

This happened despite the fact that the government had given a notice to the Speaker requesting for time to be allotted for the Prime Minister to speak on an issue that concerns the entire country.

The government has planned Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flag off the Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and the Yatra will conclude in Dandi where the President of India will be present. Similar celebrations will take place across 75 locations in the country where the contributions of great freedom fighters would be remembered.

The government has also constituted a series of programmes to run for 75 consecutive weeks leading up to the 75th year of Independence in 2022.

While speaking at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Narendra Modi urged party MPs to participate actively in these programmes. The whole idea is to present India’s freedom struggle and subsequent rise of New India and India of our dreams in 2047 when India would celebrate Independent India’s centenary.

The Prime Minister-led National Committee to commemorate75 years of Independence, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, held its first meeting on Wednesday. The Prime Minister addressed the panel through a video conference. Various members of the National Committee attended the meeting including Governors, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, political leaders, scientists, officials, media personalities, spiritual leaders, artists, film and sports personalities, and eminent persons from other walks of life.

The members of the Committee who gave inputs and suggestions to the meeting included former President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Naveen Patnaik, Mallikarjun Kharge, Meira Kumar, Sumitra Mahajan, J P Nadda and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. The members of the committee thanked the Prime Minister for the planning and organisation of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’. They gave their suggestions and inputs to further expand the scope of the Mahotsav.

The Union Home Minister said that there will be more such meetings in the future and suggestions and inputs received on Wednesday will be considered.