Union minister Amit Shah urges people to hoist national flag at home between Aug 13 and 15

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged the public to hoist the national flag atop their houses, shops and factories between August 13 and 15 as part of the Centre’s ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebration.

The programme, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was meant to raise awareness among children and youth about the country’s achievement in terms of development in the last 75 years since independence and to inculcate a sense of patriotism, Shah said at an event in Manipur locality of Ahmedabad.

Shah, the Lok Sabha member from Gandhinagar, was speaking after remotely inaugurating a water supply project for Bopal and Ghuma localities under the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority in Gujarat, where the Assembly polls are due later this year.

This will ensure pure Narmada drinking water to 70,000 households, he said.

He also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 11 different projects worth Rs 211 crore under his constituency.

On the occasion, Shah said the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign is to inculcate a new sense of patriotism among India’s youth and make a resolution to take the country to the top by the time it celebrates the centenary of its independence.

“The campaign is meant to remember our freedom fighters, known and unknown, and pay tributes to them,” he said.

Shah said the national flags will be available in post offices, cooperative societies, municipal corporations, and e-commerce websites, among other places, and the public should hoist the tricolour and post a selfie with it on the central government’s website.

As many as 20 crore tricolours will be hoisted across the country during the three-day campaign between August 13 and 15, he said.

Shah also spoke about the redevelopment of Ahmedabad’s Kalupur and Sabarmati railway stations which, he said, will look grand in the next five years.

“Narendrabhai (PM Modi) took Gujarat on top in terms of development (when he was the state’s chief minister) and also ensured the tradition continued even after he left (for Delhi),” the Union minister said.

On the occasion, Shah inaugurated a Rs 77.5 crore water supply project, Rs 7.73 crore housing project under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and a sports complex.

He also laid the foundation stone for a flyover, redevelopment of a lake, a bridge over a canal, and a solid waste recycling project. (PTI)