RTE, price rise prominent in Manmohan speech
Addressing the nation on its 64th Independence Day from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unfurled the national tricolour and addressed the nation for the seventh consecutive time.
With his usual trademark attire of blue turban, Dr Singh spoke for 35-minutes, which was welcomed by the spectators, including specially 3,000 children, dressed in saffron, white and green from more than 30 schools.
This year, the Prime Minister addressed the nation from a closed enclosure, in stead of the usual speeches from an enclosure which is not fully covered, after the authorities got prediction of rains which prompted them to go for the closed enclosure.
Last year, there was a heavy downpour during the Independence Day celebrations. But this time, the weather was soothing with no showers, sparing the visitors the intense heat of the sun. Though humidity was an irritant forcing people to use invites and other papers as fans.
Dr Singh’s referrence to the Right to Education (RTE) Act and assurance that his government was doing its best in dealing with the increase in price rise was greeted with a loud applause by the children.
The students were enthralled after listening to the 35-minutes speech by the PM.
Commenting on it, Suresh Kumar Srivastava, a class-IX student of Model Town school, said, “The PM has rightly said that RTE should be a fundamental right to ensure that every child in the country gets its benefit, because it is essential in a country like India to achieve full literacy.”
The magnificent Red Fort was under the heavy presence of gun-totting security men.
Sixty CCTV cameras were installed and NSG sharp shooters deployed on the rooftops of high-rise buildings near the Mughal monument.
Strict vigils were being maintained at key installations like Parliament complex, airport, railway stations and bus terminals. Random checking of vehicles and individuals is being done to avoid any untoward incident.
Delhi’s skyline on Sunday was dotted with thousands of kites taking to the sky on the historic day.
When the PM’s address ended with loud cries of ‘Jai Hind’, a large number of balloons were released in the air to signal the spirit of true freedom, amid loud cheers from the children.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, HRD minister Kapil Sibal, urban development minister Jaipal Reddy and several other dignitaries attended the function.
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