Independence Day 2020: India to celebrate its Independence Day on Saturday (File)
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive at the foreground of Delhi’s Red Fort at 7:21 a.m. on Saturday, August 15 to mark the start of Independence Day celebrations this year, sources said on Tuesday. Sources added that the prime minister will fly the flag at 7:30 a.m. and speak for 45 to 90 minutes.
According to the source, the prime minister’s program at the Red Fort would include honor guard by three branches of the military – the military, air force and navy – with 22 soldiers and officers.
32 other soldiers and officers will take part in the national salute, while 350 members of the Delhi police will also attend. During the ceremony, all soldiers will stand in four rows and follow social distancing.
This year’s celebrations will be a very small matter, both in the nation’s capital and across the country, in light of the coronavirus pandemic which has infected more than 22.68 lakh.
As part of the precautions, only soldiers and personnel who have recovered or tested negative will be permitted to participate in the function. In addition, the 350 Delhi Police personnel participating in the program were transferred to a housing colony in Delhi Cantonment.
Delhi’s Red Fort Independence Day event normally sees large crowds gathering (File)
In addition, all soldiers and police participating in the ceremony were asked to restrict their movement – sources said they could only leave their homes to attend rehearsals. Their domestic helpers, cooks and drivers will also be in quarantine, sources added.
Another big change in this year’s Independence Day celebrations at Fort Rouge will be the absence of school children in the foreground. In previous years, there were approximately 3,500 children.
In addition, this year, only 500 members of the CCN (National Cadet Corps) will be authorized; they too will have to keep a distance of six feet from each other.
The number of guests at the ceremony has also been drastically reduced, with just 120 in total – 60 on either side of the ramparts. In previous years, there were between 300 and 500 guests.
Media presence will be limited during the event, photographers near the Prime Minister will have to take a coronavirus test. Only those with negative test results will be allowed.
Photographers from news agencies and official media will be allowed, but cameramen from private media companies will not. There will be limited passes for journalists, who will be confined to the foreground.
India has seen a worrying increase in Covid cases in recent days, with more than 22.68 lakh of infections confirmed to date. Of these, more than 45,000 are virus-related deaths and nearly 6.4 lakh are active cases.
In the national capital, out of nearly 1.5 lakh infections, 4,131 are deaths and 10,346 are active cases.
