Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, July 31
By this Independence Day, every village panchayat in India will have a war memorial of its own, saluting the memory of martyrs with their names inscribed on a special structure to come up at a prominent local site.
Memorials to display…
- Name and location of panchayat
- Name of martyrs from village
- Salutations to bravehearts
- PM’s quote for Vision 2047
The plan is part of the nationwide campaign “Meri Maati Mera Desh” that will mark the culmination of yearlong Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations which started on the Independence Day last year.
The campaign, to be held across all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats between August 9 (Quit India Day anniversary) and August 15 (I-Day), will conclude on August 30 at New Delhi’s Kartavya Path with the dedication of a uniquely landscaped garden to be curated with the soil sourced from all villages in the country.
“A fundamental aspect of the campaign is the expression of gratitude to brave hearts who sacrificed their lives for the unity of India,” official sources said, adding that the village level war memorial – the Shilaphalakam – would serve as a permanent expression of national gratitude to martyrs and will bring people together.
For the purpose of the campaign, martyrs have been defined as “freedom fighters; defence personnel (Army, Navy, Air Force); or state police forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel who have died in the line of duty”.
According to the campaign details, accessed by The Tribune, villagers will on I-Day this year gather at war memorial sites and hoist the Tricolour.
Once the village events end on August 15, youth volunteers from all over India will collect the soil from each village and travel to Delhi on August 27 with 7,500 urns containing the soil, which will ultimately become part of the “Amrit Vatika” — to be landscaped at Delhi’s Kartavya Path as a symbol of national unity.