District Minister at 78th I-Day celebrations

Mysore/Mysuru: Social Welfare and District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa has said, patriotism should not be restricted to Independence Day celebrations, but should be deeply ingrained in our blood, living the spirit of patriotism everyday and every moment.

He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the 78th Independence Day celebrations by hoisting the National Flag, organised by the District Administration, at the Torchlight Parade Grounds in Bannimantap here on Thursday.

Extending I-Day wishes to the gathering, Minister Dr. Mahadevappa paid his verbal tributes on behalf of the people of the State, to all those freedom fighters, who with their sacrifice freed the country from the throes of slavery. “As we humbly recall and respect the sacrifices made by the leaders and soldiers, who fought for the freedom of the country, we should not forget that those gentle souls shed their sweat and blood for the good of the next generation to breath the air of freedom, free from suppression and colonial rule,” he said.

Freedom fighters of repute

Remembering leading freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Gopalakrishna Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar among several others, Dr. Mahadevappa also gave a call to respect soldiers guarding the borders and the martyrs, who have made enormous sacrifices to ensure that we countrymen feel safe and relieved.

Sending out a message to have egalitarian mindset beyond the shackles of language, religion and culture, Dr. Mahadevappa asserted, “Our’s is a Karnataka Development Model, which embodies development model with the principles of Sarvodaya, aimed at reforming the life of every citizen of the country.

Guarantee Schemes

Referring to the five Guarantee Schemes of the Government, Dr. Mahadevappa said, under Anna Bhagya Yojane, 5 kg rice is provided to every BPL and Antyodaya card holders in the State, along with Rs. 150 in the place of remaining 5 kg of rice, that is directly credited to the Bank account of every beneficiaries under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). In Mysuru district alone, 6,6,818 families are benefited with Rs. 408.16 crore paid so far under the scheme.

Similarly, under Shakti Scheme that was implemented in June 2023,a total of 10.20 crore women travellers have utilised the benefit of free travelling in KSRTC buses in the district so far, with an average of 3.5 lakh daily women passengers.

Under Gruha Lakshmi Yojane, a total of 6,66,264 women beneficiaries are receiving monthly financial assistance of Rs. 2,000, while under Yuva Nidhi scheme a total of 4,279 beneficiaries against 6,450 applications registered in the district are provided the monthly financial assistance of Rs. 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders and Rs. 3,000 for unemployed graduates.

GI products of Mysuru

Most importantly, as announced in 2023-24 budget, measures are taken to encourage the cultivation of Geographical Indicator (GI) products like Mysuru Mallige, Nanjangud Rasabale and Mysuru Veelyedele, along with market facilities and their conservation, said Dr. Mahadevappa.

Parade troupes

Earlier, Dr. Mahadevappa inspected the parade comprising men and women Police, Mounted Police, Fire and Emergency Services Department, Home Guards, Excise Department, National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), specially abled children and school and college students. It was followed by a march past by parade troupes, from whom the District Minister received the guard of honour.

MLA Tanveer Sait presided. Deputy Commissioner (DC) G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, Superintendent of Police (SP) N. Vishnuvardhan, DIGP (Southern Range) Dr. B. Boralingaiah, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Dr. P. Shivaraju, Chairman of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) K. Marigowda and others were present.

Visible foreigners, missing locals

While the 78th Independence Day celebrations had all the ingredients, suffice to spread the flavour of patriotism, what was lacking was the number of audience. There were about 1,000 audience, a measly number compared to the seating capacity of 32,000 at the ground, which aptly reflected the spirit of I-day on wane.

Despite a circular issued to Government employees to attend the event, they blatantly skipped like as always, to spend time with their family members, encashing the series of holidays connected with I-Day, followed by holiday for Varamahalakshmi, second Saturday and Sunday, which is a general holiday. Even the locals stayed away from the celebration.

However, a group of foreign tourists from Germany savoured the spirit of I-Day fervour and captured the moments of cultural programmes on their cell phone camera.