Udupi: The 68th Republic Day celebrations marked the patriotic spirit with pomp at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Udupi Municipal grounds at Beedinagudde near here on January 26.
State Minister for Fisheries, Sports and Youth Empowerment and District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj hoisted the National Flag. He then received guard of honour from the district police force, NCC, Scouts & Guides, Reserve Police and Forest Department.
In his address the minister said, “In the republican system, the power belongs to people’s representatives. Dr. B R Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Republic provided equal rights to all the citizens of the country. Today we should remember the great architects of Indian Republic. Republic Day is not only a festival of India but also the day of giving great honour to the Indian constitution. “
The minister, giving statistics of the development projects in the district said, “Under the Ujwal project, state government will provide maximum Rs. 1,000 valued two-burner gas stove. In Udupi district alone, 2977 beneficiaries have been selected and under Annabhagya project foodgrains worth Rs 63 Crore have been distributed to the people by the government. During the current fiscal, the Tourism department will provide employment to the backward, scheduled castes and minority and out of the total grants of Rs 98 Lakh, Rs 2 Lakh will be spent on tourism here. The state government has also started the Karnataka State Private Commercial Drivers’ Accident Benefit project.”
Minister further said, “A total of Rs 11.35 Crore has been released for the empowerment of scheduled castes through the social empowerment department; Rs 82.95 Lakh aid was given to 382 scheduled caste students of PUC, Post Graduate, engineering courses during the year 2016-17. Under the Bidai project of minority department, in the year 2016-17 Rs 1.12 Crore aid was released for the 224 beneficiaries and Rs 1.12 Crore has been provided for the repair of churches in Udupi district and Rs 50 lakh for two Shadi Mahals.”
“In the municipal limit at Santhekatte of Gopalapura ward a commericial building at an expenditure of Rs 1.52 Crore will be established. A sum of Rs 76.52 Crore is sanctioned by the state government for the maintenance of rural roads and bridges. The construction of the third stage jetty of the Malpe Fisheries Harbour would be completed soon. Around Rs 60 Crore has been spent under Nagarothana project in the district. Under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme in the district, Rs. 63 Crore has been spent,” he said.
Sarvothama Seva Awards were conferred on Dr B B Rao of the Primary Health Centre, Padubidiri; K Shankar Nayak, Project and Survey Officer, Udupi Zilla Panchayat; Shankar Sherigar, Deputy Agriculture Officer, Kota; N Devaraj, Taluk Officer Ambedkar Nigama; Parvathi, Food Inspector, Taluk Panchayat and T Shukathulla, Deputy Tahsildar, Kaup. Students were honoured for their achievements in sports at the national and state levels.
Cultural programmes with the essence of devoted nationalistic fervour marked the republic day celebrations.
Dinakar Babu, President of Zilla Panchayat; Meenakshi Bannanje, President of Udupi CMC; Nalini Pradeep Rao, President of Taluk Panchayat; Venkatesh, Deputy Commissioner; Priyanka Mary Francis, CEO of ZP; Anuradha, Additional DC; K T Balakrishna, SP, Udupi; Vishuvardhan, ASP, Udupi and others were present on the dais.
