Face2News/Chandigarh 

The Chandigarh Administration celebrated the 76th Republic Day with full patriotic fervor at Parade Ground, Sector-17, Chandigarh today. The Chief Secretary, UT Chandigarh, Sh. Rajeev Verma was the chief guest during the event.

The celebrations began with the hoisting of National Flag by the Chief Secretary, UT Chandigarh which was followed by the inspection of the Guard of Honour. The March Past by various contingents of Police and NCC Cadets instilled the spirit of patriotism among those present at the venue. The Republic day parade also saw a colourful display of tableaux from different departments including Education department, Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee, Science and Technology, Department of Industries, Chandigarh Police, Traffic Police and Municipal Corporation, emphasizing on social messages and development.

The cultural performances by students from different schools, colleges and GRIID of Chandigarh was another highlight of the celebrations.

Sh. Rajeev Verma addressed the audience by recalling the struggles and sacrifices of our freedom fighters who fought for the independence and sovereignty of our country. He re-emphasised the significance of 26th January as, on this day, our great nation adopted the world's largest written Constitution. Today, we have completed 75 years of the implementation of the Indian Constitution.

The Chief Secretary highlighted some of the achievements of the City Beautiful including that Chandigarh became the first among all Union Territories and States in the country where the three transformative criminal laws - Indian Penal Code, Indian Civil Defence Code and Indian Evidence Act were fully implemented.

Chandigarh has added 60 new buses to the CTU bus network; appointment letters have been issued to 68 selected school education department teachers; Retention rate in Chandigarh is 100 per cent which is an example for the entire country, new Emergency-cum-Trauma Block in GMCH-32 is scheduled to be completed by April 2025. Chandigarh is being developed as a Sports Hub as per the vision of the Hon'ble Administrator, UT Chandigarh and 20 acres of land has been earmarked at the Sports Complex in Sector-42, Chandigarh, for the city's first-ever Indoor Multipurpose Hall of international standard.

He also shared that after a long gap of 10 years since 2014, the tableau of Chandigarh based on the theme 'Heritage and Development', is being showcased today at the Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path, New Delhi.

During the Republic Day celebrations, Commendation certificates were awarded to 21 employees of the Chandigarh Administration and general public for rendering outstanding services in the field of Public services, Art and Culture, Social Services and Sports. Three Police personnel were also conferred President’s Police Medal and 24 Police personnel were conferred with Administrator’s Police Medal for their distinguished and meritorious services.

The Chandigarh Police Female received the overall Best Contingency Award in the parade. The first prize in the category of Police Contingent went to Chandigarh Police Female, second position was bagged by Punjab Police while CRPF Platoon came third. In the category of Home Guard/ Fire Brigade/ Civil Defence, the first prize was bagged by Chandigarh Civil Defence, second position was bagged by Chandigarh Home Guard and Chandigarh Fire Services came third.

In the category of Road Safety/ Platoon Scouts/ Guides, the first prize was bagged by GMSSS-18, second position was bagged by GMSSS-20 and GMSSS-40 came third. In NSS category, Shivalik Public School bagged the first position, I.S. Dev Samaj -21 came second and SHG School-40 came third. In School Band category, Sacred Heart School- 26 bagged the first position, Moti Ram Arya School came second and PMShri GMSS- Dhanas came third.

In Tableau category, Chandigarh Education department bagged the first position, Cultural Affairs department came second and Municipal Corporation came third. In Cultural programme trophy, patriotic dance by GMSSS-16 bagged the first position and Yoga show by PGGC-11 came second.

The Chief Secretary declared holiday tomorrow for all private and government schools.

Present during the event were Sh. Kuldeep Kumar, Mayor Chandigarh, Additional Solicitor General of India, Sh. Satya Pal Jain, Sh. Surendra Singh Yadav, DGP, all senior officials of Chandigarh Administration and the fervent and patriotic citizens of the City Beautiful.