75th Republic Day parade to be women-centric

The 75th Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path will be women-centric as the women marching contingents will form the major chunk of the parade.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane said, "For the first time, the parade will be heralded by 100 women artists playing Indian musical instruments. The parade would commence with the music of Sankh, Naadswaram, Nagada, etc. to be played by women artists".This year the Republic Day themes are ‘Viksit Bharat’ and ‘Bharat - Loktantra ki Matruka.

The parade will also witness an all-women Tri-Service contingent marching down Kartavya Path for the first time. The CAPF contingents will also consist of women personnel. “Best representation of women will be seen in this year’s Republic Day parade,” the Defence Secretary said.

He said that around 13,000 special guests have also been invited to witness the parade this year including best performers in various fields and those who made best use of various government schemes.

The Defence Secretary stated that given their tough livelihood, special emphasis was laid to include Vibrant Villages in the list of special guests for them to be part of the Republic Day celebrations of the country.

As French President Emmanuel Macron will be the Chief Guest, a 95-member marching contingent and 33-member band contingent from France will also take part in the parade. Along with the aircraft of Indian Air Force, one Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and two Rafale aircraft of the French Air Force will participate in the Fly-past.

A total of 25 tableaux - 16 States/UTs and nine Ministries/Departments – will roll down the Kartavya Path during the parade. The states are Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.

The Defence Ministry will release a commemorative coin and commemorative stamp during the celebrations, Aramane informed.In order to ensure maximum Jan Bhagidari, the number of seats for public has been enhanced. Accordingly, the number of tickets for public has been increased which could be booked from www.aamantran.mod.gov.in.

Beating Retreat ceremony, which will be held at Vijay Chowk on January 29, will witness all Indian tunes to mark the culmination of 75th Republic Day celebrations.(UNI)<>