azadi ka amrut mahotsav: All states except Bengal part of Centre’s celebration of India’s 75 years of independence
This is not new for the TMC that has often boycotted Central schemes, including nutrition for children under Poshan Abhiyan, maternity schemes and even the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme, the Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojna under Ayushman Bharat, and even the National Education Policy. The state government was also among the last to adopt the annual minimum income support scheme for farmers.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the central and state governments. It was launched last year by PM Narendra Modi to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. An important part of the campaign is commemorating the stories of “gumnaam nayak”, or unsung freedom fighters and revolutionaries from India’s hinterlands.
Culture secretary Govind Mohan, while presenting details about the way the states were participating in the Centre’s initiative, said on Tuesday that all states except Bengal were on board. On Tuesday, the Centre organised an event, Amrit Samagam, to review the progress of the mahotsav, which has completed its first year. There were ministers and senior officials from states. Home minister Amit Shah, who spoke at the event, said states should participate in AKAM irrespective of political differences as this was about nation-building and taking it on the path of progress. Among states, Congress-ruled Rajasthan has organised the most number of events under AKAM in the last one year at 1,284 programmes. Haryana (1,208), Gujarat (1,018), Tripura (716), Madhya Pradesh(402) and Uttar Pradesh(327) have also shown enthusiastic participation. Telangana (11) and Assam (20) have recorded the lowest number of events.
TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told ET that there was “no cohesive approach from the Centre” in involving the state when it came to governance. “We are celebrating the anniversaries of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Sri Aurobindo. We respect our icons and leave no stone unturned when it comes to hailing them and spreading awareness about them, but the Centre is doing the programme without involving us or taking any support from us,” Roy said.
“For instance, to celebrate unsung heroes such as Basanta Kumar Biswas, they are doing things on their own. They organised an event in his native village, Poragacha in Nadia, and didn’t even bother to involve us. They are not just undermining the state government but also trying to politically capitalise on a very sensitive issue,” he alleged.
Roy claimed that the BJP government’s massive campaign to celebrate India’s freedom struggle was ironic as “the party and the RSS had minimal role to play in the struggle for India’s independence”.
Reacting to West Bengal not taking part in AKAM, culture minister G Kishen Reddy told ET that the state’s TMC government, by constantly going against the Centre, was working against the interest of its own people. “This (AKAM) is for the country. All other states are supporting us,” he said.
