The grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate will inspire democratic values and future generations as he refused to bow before the British, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday as he launched the country’s Republic Day celebrations on the 125th birth anniversary of the great freedom fighter.
Unveiling the hologram statue of Netaji at India Gate, the Prime Minister said that the grand statue of Netaji is being installed in digital form near India Gate and soon this hologram statue will be replaced by a big granite statue.
“Forgotten heroes are now being remembered,” PM Modi said.
In an oblique reference to successive Congress governments at the Centre, PM Modi said, "It is unfortunate that after Independence, along with the culture and rites of the country, work was done to erase the contribution of many great personalities."
"The freedom struggle involved the penance of lakhs of countrymen. But efforts were made to limit their history as well. But today, after decades of independence, the country is correcting those mistakes"
The hologram statue will be powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector. An invisible, high gain, 90 per cent transparent holographic screen has been erected in such a way that it is not visible to visitors.
The 3D image of Netaji will be projected on it to create the effect of a hologram. The size of the hologram statue is 28 feet in height and 6 feet in width.
The Prime Minister has been honouring the freedom fighters in a befitting manner and the special focus of these efforts has been on the legendary freedom fighter and visionary leader, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
In a first, India will begin Republic Day celebrations from January 23 instead of January 24, to include the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
During the programme, the Prime Minister will also conferred the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the investiture ceremony. A total of seven awards were presented during the ceremony in the field of disaster management.
PM Modi said, "Earlier disaster management was handled by the agricultural department. Our government strengthened the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). International agencies hailed our initiatives in the disaster management sector," he pointed out.
He said that the Central government has laid emphasis on reform as well as an emphasis on relief, rescue and rehabilitation.
"We modernized NDRF, expanded it across the country. Space technology and other best possible practices have also been adopted for planning and management," PM Modi said.
In a very short span of time, NDRF has rescued over 1.44 lakh precious human lives and also evacuated more than 7 lakh stranded persons from disaster situations within the country and abroad. The swift and effective response of NDRF during Japan Triple Disaster-2011 and Nepal Earthquake 2015 was acclaimed globally.
